Malice and Desperation
by Shadow Shinobi57
Summary: While Star Fox is guarding an important icon, strange things begin happening around and to them. What could be the reason? And as the strange events thicken, will Star Fox be able to overcome the unknown enemy?
1. The Job Ahead

_At last, I'll be doing a real and serious fic that will be read. I had this idea for a few days, so I wrote it. The plot will unfold way later. For the next few chapters, it will be kinda slow. I hope to get the next chapter up. Sorry if it's not interesting at first, but bear with me, something will happen. Oh, and did I mention that this one will be with...well I can't say yet, but I'll give you a clue. It starts with "G" and has to do with Halloween. Once it starts unfolding, you'll know. Enjoy!_

_9/24/09: I took out the explicit part of the shower. I got a review from this one dude, (anonymous, and that makes me so fucking mad that I can't just tell him that I changed it or to read past it.) and he said it was too revealing. I've known that for months. I changed it so that it's not at all explicit. I'm sorry for that, if any of my veteran readers are reading this.  
_

* * *

Malice and Desperation

Chapter 1

The Job Ahead

"I am so bored." Falco complained. The team hadn't had any missions for, what Fox and the others called it, an ass full of eternity. "When the hell is Pepper gonna get some jobs in?"

"You should be thankful." Peppy replied. "The calm is relaxing. Plus, the season's in" It was true. Falco team was playing around this time. Despite that, he wasn't occupied at all during this time, and desperately needed something of leisure to do.

"Still, you've got to admit, even taking down Andross twice is more fun than this." Fox stated. The serenity and relaxation was getting to him, too. It wasn't normal for so few jobs to come up. Even a simple escort assignment would be nice.

"I don't care." Slippy chimed.

"Of course you don't!" Falco yelled. "You could be having fun if you just had a cheese grater!"

"Don't yell at me! It's not my fault that Pepper doesn't call us up for anything!"

"Yeah, but it is your fault for hogging the shower every morning!" Fox and Peppy were getting a tad bit worried, so they vacated the room before things got ugly. "Do you know how long it's been since I've had a warm shower?!"

"Shut up! If I don't have a shower at a set temperature…We've been through this, Falco! I'm cold blooded!"

"You must be light headed, too!" That was the last straw. Slippy jumped at Falco and started strangling him. Falco retaliated with a punch to the stomach, making Slippy double over. Fox shut the door before he could witness anything further.

"Didn't know Slippy had it in him." Peppy said. They walked down the hall to the control room. The Great Fox was currently in a hanger on Corneria's surface, so they only saw the inside of it. "Falco is right, though. Without missions, we're going to go bankrupt or something."

"Yeah, I know." Fox was really stumped on this one. "I'm going for a shower." The same path, the same destination, the same routine as before. The hall seemed to stretch on, like it usually did those days. Mainly because of the many times he walked down it. Fox would walk down this same hallway everyday for the past few weeks. From their last mission, the Arwings had been severely damaged. On the upside, they received Cornerian Fighters as replacements until repairs were complete. Sure, they weren't like the Arwings, but they were still efficient. On the negative, they had to mend the Arwings themselves. That brings up the reason why Fox was found down this path.

He entered the bathroom. Once inside, he set the lock function on the door; he had had enough of stress for one day. He stripped down and examined himself in the mirror. Why he did this every time, he had no idea. He spotted several patches of fur dirtied with oil. "Last time I work on the Arwings without my shirt on." He stepped into the shower and switched on the water. It sprayed over him, and he instantly relaxed immensely, as if his worries washed away with the oil. He reached over to the fur and body wash and squirted some into his hands. As he began washing, he really took the time to think of just how extreme this had gotten.

* * *

Peppy sat in the captain's chair, asleep from reading the paper. The screen flickered on suddenly, and General Pepper's face appeared.

"Peppy! Wake up!" his booming voice certainly did its job, with added results. The old hare fell out of the chair with a start, which scattered the papers everywhere. It even revealed what Peppy was really reading underneath, which happened to be a suggestible magazine. "Peppy, where is Fox?"

"He's in the shower. Why?"

"I've got a job for you." Peppy's mood brightened instantly. The very deal that had been argued over moments before was now to be resolved.

"You two are hopeless." Krystal's scolding found its way out. The sight of Slippy beating Falco with a ladle and Falco gnawing at Slippy's elbow really brought it out. "You two can argue over anything, can't you?"

"Yes." Falco replied bluntly.

"You're not helping." Slippy interjected.

"Thank you, Slippy. Just because the times look bleak does not mean we have to turn on each other."

"Since when did you become the captain?" Said Falco. Krystal began storming off.

"There's no reasoning with you!" She walks off into the other room. Falco, too, walks off. But he walks to the control room. Slippy follows, much against Falco's knowledge.

"Falco. Slippy. Good to see you again." They look up to see Pepper, grinning at them.

"Pepper…Thought I'd never hear you say that you actually enjoyed seeing us." Falco didn't seem to figure that Pepper was contacting them for a reason other than friendly greetings.

"Well…That really isn't the point is it?" He caught a small scoff from the avian. "I've got a job for you."

"Really?!" Came Krystal's voice. They turned to see that she walked in without any of them knowing. "I've got to tell Fox!" Before anyone can stop her, she bolts down the hallway Fox went.

* * *

Fox sighed, not liking the prospect of subsiding work, but thought it was necessary. Recently, he had felt his muscles start to ache. By now, he felt like he went through an intense workout recently before that. Of course, he hadn't. But it couldn't just be time off, not something as subtle as that. He now knew what was needed. A vacation of some sorts. "Screw work. I need some relaxation. We've got enough, we need to take time off." He turned off the water and walked out. He grabbed the towel and began drying off. He walked out of the bathroom, towel around his waist, and proceeded to his room. It was only a few doors down. But his plan was faltered when something called out to him.

"Fox! We got work, finally!" He turned around to see Krystal, covering her eyes with her hand.

"Ah! Next time, knock!" Fox blushed and rushed to his room. Krystal noticed this once she heard his door open and close.

"Fox!" She ran to his door to make sure he could hear her. "Did you even hear me?"

"Yeah. That's great. Just let me get something on."

"Oh…Ok." She walked back to the control room. Fox sighed.

"So much for a vacation."

Fox appeared in the doorway, wearing his traditional flight jacket along with a red t-shirt, jeans and black boots. "'Bout time you called us up Pepper."

"Yes, it has." His gruff voice had not changed.

"So." Fox began. "What's this about a job you have for us?"

* * *

There it is, the start. Okay...awkward. Well, I'll get the next chapter up maybe the end of this week, next week...around that area. I hope you can bear with me with this. I will get the point rolling at some point. Krystal will play a big role, I will tell you that. And i just came up with the name before I put this up. I had a hard time choosing, so I went with something that will happen later. Keep impressing me, everyone! Shadow out!


	2. It Might Also Be Vacation

_I'm starting to feel like I'm hurrying this, but I'll get over it. There will be a few chapters before the plot even starts to unfold. A few people stated some things about the shower scene I put in the last chapter. Well, that was just to signify how stressed out Fox was, got it? A few other things, KrzyKrn K guessed correctly what this story will include. Wanna find out? Look in the reviews and find his. It'll say in there. In this chapter, whenever it goes to a conversation in italic, it's a flashback to the conversation with Pepper. Notice that I skipped after it and through it in as a filler. I know the name of the chick I put in here was kinda weird, but I like the name. And when you hear a bit about how I describe her career, think of a kinda Star Fox version of Miley Cyrus. No, I'm not a fan of her or Hannah Montana. And good news. KrzyKrn K has begun work on a new fic! Expect to see it whenever he gets it up, cause he didn't tell me when he would. Enjoy!

* * *

_

Chapter 2

It Might Also Be Vacation

Good comes to those who wait, some may say. Fox begged to differ. _"Nearly two months of waiting, and we have to baby-sit this brat?" _The only thing running through his mind seemed to be this. The job they had been given was less then ideal.

--

_"The mission I have for you is being bodyguards. This isn't just some small job to blow away. You're guarding Rebecca Stillfire."_

_--  
_

It seemed ironic to him. For years, Star Fox had been subject to the glow and warmth of, in a way, celebrity life. It was ironic itself that mercenaries for hire could be treated like important icons if they are just taking jobs away from the government. Now that they were aiding a favorite member of the media, they seemed to be like fans hungry for a moment with her.

--

_"Rebecca Stillfire?! THE Rebecca Stillfire?!" Krystal's excitement was rapidly growing. Everyone but Pepper knew that she was her favorite actress and singer. "Holy crap, I can't believe it!"_

_"Smooth move, Pepper." Falco managed to say over Krystal's squeals of excitement._

_"What?" He asked, seemingly unaware._

_--  
_

Rebecca Stillfire is one of Corneria's most famous women who appeared in movies and had numerous albums on the shelf. On top of that, she had much more to offer. She was still in her prime, being only 19. Still, Fox wasn't quite a fan of her work. She had an annoying laugh, her music was a bit too feminine for his taste, and her acting was, in Fox's case, mediocre. Against his negative judgement for her, Krystal's fanatic side never faltered.

--

_"Anyway, she has been selected to be one of the hosts at a 5-star hotel that sits on a lake in one of Corneria City's major lakes. It's a popular event that will attract many different persons of importance, whether that applies to the younger folk or older than you are. The only thing is that Rebecca is one of those who are running this. Being that she is an essential figure in the media, the threat of her being targeted by assassins is too high."_

_"Why would the media be concerned with a little brat like being killed?" Falco inquired. Krystal slapped him, making him spiral into the wall._

_"Well, that's the business of themselves. They insisted you five make sure that nothing happens to her."_

_"And what if we don't agree?" Fox bringing this up almost made Krystal snap. But, since it was him that said it, she held back._

_"You'd be passing up 5 million credits."_

_--  
_

Had the reward not been so high, Star Fox would've turned down the offer, whether or not Krystal whined until their ears fell off. Regardless, they did. Now, they were being driven to the docks in a cab, the kind that could hold 5 passengers along with the driver. They were to be at the hotel before 5:00pm.

"You just _had _to give in, didn't you Fox?" Falco complained.

"Shut you're trap." He replied. "Least now we got work. Why would you be complaining when we're getting 5 million credits?"

"Because I'm not exactly a fan of Stillfire. Unlike someone I know." He managed not to get a glare from Krystal. She was wearing several bits of Stillfire brand clothing, along with a necklace, hat, and possibly more of her merchandise in her bag. "Did you really have to bring all that stuff?"

"Of course. I want her to autograph _all _of it!"

"And I thought we had it rough with signings." Peppy laughed. Falco scoffed.

"I really don't wanna do this with that bitch with us." Krystal almost smacked him when Fox grabbed her wrist.

"Not you, Krystal."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry."

"And that douche being around isn't going to help anything either."

--

_"I have also assigned Bill Grey and Katt Monroe to assist you." Falco's heart skipped a beat._

_"Why the hell is Katt coming?! Are you trying to kill me?!" He stormed off, and loud crashed could be heard in the next room._

_--  
_

Falco was the only one who had a problem with Katt arriving at the hotel with them. Their relationship really took a turn for the worst the last time. But protest all he wanted it wasn't getting out of it. As for Bill, Fox looked forward to seeing his old academy buddy. At least as long as he doesn't go with his pranking mood in full attention. Last time, Fox ended up tied to a pie truck with his entire groin area shaved. Fox put the ear buds to his mp3 in his ears. He pressed the 'random song' feature on it. What came out was something he didn't want to hear. He ripped the buds out of his ears and peered at the screen on the small device. It read 'Love Isn't A Toy' by Rebecca Stillfire.

"Krystal, did you put this on here?" Fox asked her. She quickly grabbed it and put the ear buds in. She nodded as she swayed side to side to the music. Fox laid back in the seat and sighed. He could feel Krystal bumping against him with each sway. He could tell Falco was feeling the same thing, because he was growling slightly. All they could do was fall asleep quietly and wait out the rest of the hour-long trip.

--

Fox woke with a start. He was in the cab with his head against the window. Krystal was shaking him awake and the cab driver didn't sound too happy.

"Can you get up?! I have to get back to the city!" Fox got up and pulled out several credits.

"Sorry. Here." He handed him the money. Fox got out as he began counting it, but was stopped.

"What, no tip?" The vulpine sighed as he pulled out another 6 credits. He got out and the cab and it drove away. The dust made both he and Krystal cough and cover their eyes.

"You guys coming?" Peppy called to them. They turned to see a luxurious boat; one that looked to be worth a few hundred thousand credits. It was white with gold trim. There was a small sitting area in the back and a balcony on top to view the surroundings. There was also a small cabin that could be used for sleep or whatnot.

Fox and Krystal got inside and sat in the two available chairs. The driver, a middle aged badger, started up the boat and brought it out on the lake. As the waves past by and the wind brushed his fur, Fox relaxed more than he had for a large amount of time. _"Maybe this will turn out to be somewhat of a vacation after all." _He peered over the side in the direction of the island. A magnificent building stood on a large body of land. It appeared to have at least ten floors on it. Not only that, but Fox could also see an Olympic sized swimming pool.

"Oh, wow! This is so cool!" Slippy was up on the balcony, obviously observing the view. Krystal, too, was staring in awe. This mission looked to be better than Fox hoped.

"You'll be staying at the Twilight hotel. And remember, just because you're on duty doesn't mean that you can't relax a bit. I understand that you have had it rough the past few weeks. So don't forget to enjoy yourselves." Fox grunted.

"I seriously doubt that we'll be able to, Pepper. Thanks anyway." Pepper, too, grunted.

"Very well. Good luck." The connection was cut. Fox went to get ready. Thoughts of what Pepper said ran through his head, and yet he still had a feeling that relaxation was out of the question, whether or not this hotel had the kind of things to provide such.

The boat came to the dock. The motor shut off, and everyone was able to hear fully again. What used to be thoughts of duty and work started to fade in Fox's mind. It was now mixed in with, rest and good times. Now that he had a good glimpse at the hotel's directory on the dock, it now looked even better. He now saw they had jacuzzis, a gym, arcade, huge dining hall, and many more facilities. He and the rest of the team walked up to the guide. He was standing by several men who were carrying the luggage.

"Good day, Star Fox. If you will please follow me, we'll get you all set." He began walking up the path, and the five of them followed, all of them eager to see more.

* * *

_Hope you liked it. I'm staying up to about 11:00pm to get this up! The plot will make it's way into here soon. BTW, i got the idea of the setting being in a mansion like building because of Stephen King's "The Shining." I suppose I owe some credit to him, even though he's not gonna read this. plan to finish up the two other fics I have up, but I'm kinda bored with them. However, I can't just leave them thre. I'll finish them , I promise. Then, sequels! Hope this isn't too crappy, but if people like it, I'm not complaining. Heck, why would I write this if there are already at least 2 people favorited it. Man, I'm becoming more popular here than I thought. Anyway, any complications or stuff you don't understand, say so in the reviews. I'll reply to it. Keep impressing me, everyone! Apparently, I've impressed you! Shadow out!_


	3. Conflicts and Chills

**NOTICE: I am responding to your reviews from the last chapter at the bottom. I'm writing in bold so you won't overlook it.**

* * *

Chapter 3

Conflicts and Chills

They walked up the way to the large building. A few of them stared in awe. If something was able to amaze them with what they have seen over the years, it had to be spectacular. Then again, they barely ever saw any decent hotels in the past, seeing as they never really got any good places to stay when they couldn't on the Great Fox.

However, Krystal was really only anxious to get inside so that she could meet Rebecca. She was still listening to some of her songs that she put on Fox's mp3 player. She didn't even care that the guide, a male raccoon around his mid 20's, was explaining everything on the way up; she would get filled in later from one of the others.

"…And the gym is open from 7am to 7pm. I'm guessing that's where you're hoping to go first, eh Mr. McCloud?" The guide said lightly.

"Yeah, kinda. Been a while since I had a good workout." He answered, examining his bicep for any noticeable changes.

"Well, you look in great shape in my opinion." The guide turned his head to face Fox when he said this, giving him a wink. Fox felt a chill run up his spine. Once he turned back, he started talking again. "Anyway, we have over a hundred choices on our room service menu, and a special has been set up for you. So, it's free."

"Jackpot." Falco hollered from in the middle of them. "So, can I ask why Stillfire is here?"

"Oh, that. That little hussy, thinks she's all that…" He apparently caught on to the fact that he was trailing off. "Well, it's some sort of celebration that will play host to several acts. It's kind of a little autumn thing. No real reason, it's just a little something that happens every season. Stillfire heard about this and thought it would be fun. So, they hired hear and that's that. …Except the part where it was cut out of my salary. Every one of the employees had a cut. But…I believe it's worth it to see a few bands and whatnot. It'll go on for the rest of the month."

"What?!" Falco blurted out. "You mean we're stuck her until the end of the month?!"

"Uh, yeah. That would be correct." Slippy answered. "Good deduction, Sherlock."

"I'll show you deduction!" He punched Slippy. The toad fell back into the water and was assaulted by Falco. Suddenly, they were both thrown aside by the figure rising from the water. It was Bill.

"Damn you two. I was gonna surprise Fox." He stood to full length.

"Um…" Krystal started. "Why are you wearing speedos?" He was wearing an extra small black pair and nothing else.

"Well, it seemed unexpected to me, so I found it as a surprise." He smiled, not at all aware of how much of a disturbing sight it was. Slippy got out of the water as fast as possible, while Falco remained, looking ready to pounce. And pounce he did. Bill took a header into the sand, some of it going right in his mouth. "Yo, what the crap?" He threw some wet sand in Falco's face. The canine then got up and went to retrieve his clothes that were sitting on a chair nearby. "Well, see ya later guys. I need to get everything unpacked and all that noise." They waved him goodbye, still a little shaken by the speedos.

"So, I'll just leave you to unpacking and enjoying yourselves!" The guide said happily. He then ran after Bill and, by the looks of it, sported an erection.

"Either I'm crazy or that guy is gay." Falco said while ridding his face of the sand.

"Oh, gee! What was your first clue?" Fox remarked sarcastically. "Him hitting on me or him running after Mr. Speedo?"

"Well, aren't we a smart ass?" Everyone turned to see Katt. She was wearing pitch black sunglasses, along with a miniskirt, sandals, and sadly…

"A Rebecca Stillfire T-shirt?" Asked Krystal. "You're a fan, too?"

"So, you are?"

"Yeah!" Krystal looked at the resort for a second before turning back. "Wanna go look for her and get her autograph?" They both squealed and ran inside faster than the others though possible. The others slowly followed, hoping not to get dragged in with the fanatic insanity. However, this was exactly the opposite.

While Katt was running down one of the halls from the main lobby, Krystal was standing at the door. She was shivering slightly, and her eyes were wide. Fox put a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay, Krystal?" She continued to stand there. "Krystal, what's wrong?" She remained still, not moving at all apart from her breathing. But even that was irregular. "Krystal, what's wrong?!" Fox said more forcefully. Her head shook fast for a moment and she was breathing heavily. She was clutching her head, and her eyes were still as wide as before.

"What happened?" She asked.

"You just blanked out there for a second." Falco answered. "It was like you were in a trance."

"Are you okay now?" Inquired Peppy. She nodded. She began running after Katt hoping to catch up to her. Reassured that things were back to normal from the strange anomaly, the rest of the team walked up to the front desk. The women sitting there, a green avian that looked a little like Falco, sported a grin and turned her chair to them from her computer.

"Hi, we need-" Fox was cut off by her handing him a set of keycards.

"We've been expecting you." She said happily. "We have rooms set up for each of you. And I suppose you can give this to Ms. Krystal." Fox sighed as he received an extra card. He hated it when they called them "Mr." or "Ms.". He hated it, the others knew, but the public was excluded to this truth. By the time the cards were given out, Falco noticed he didn't get one.

"Um…I think you forgot one." He said, doing a small waving gesture.

"No. Ms. Monroe has it." Falco's mouth went agape. "I figured you were still going out with her. Sorry."

"No, I'm not." He then ran down the same hallway the two females went moment before. Fox felt that this little vacation/job was going to be a little crazier than thought earlier. Once he thanked the green bird, he walked in the direction of his room. Peppy and Slippy did the same, going into separate hallways that lead to each respective room. Upon reaching his, Fox looked at the keycards. His read 214, and Krystal's read 215. Just like everyone to humor him like this. He put the keycard in the slot and walked in.

The room was way more luxurious than he could've imagined. Everything was red; the carpet, the bed covers, the curtains, everything. The bed was king sized if not bigger, and it had a large canopy and a curtain to block view inside and out. The TV was at least 120 inches long with cables available for every possible add-on, like game consoles. The bathroom was large enough to accommodate 10 people…plus Fox. Everything was made out of marble, including the toilet. Inside was a shower with 4 nozzles so as to give the occupant an all-around cleanse. And to pull it all off, a balcony with a million credit view of the lake and island.

"Yep. Definitely a vacation." Fox smiled to himself, then went back into the room to unpack and try out the TV.

* * *

"Where is she?" Falco growled. "Where the hell is she?"

"Who?" Came a voice behind him. Falco turned to see a young feline around the age of twenty. She had orange fur and was wearing clothes that Falco figured were extremely new and were released just in the last week; they looked as if she had just put them on that day.

"Oh, um…I'm trying to find these two girls I know. One is a pink feline, about this tall." He put his hand about halfway up his head. The girl put her hand to her chin. She shrugged.

"What did the other one look like?" She asked.

"She's a blue fox." The girl's eyes widened. For some reason, she didn't know about Krystal being apart of Star Fox.

"Wait a second…" She started examining Falco. "You're Falco Lombardi from Star Fox, aren't you?"

"Yep."

"Nice to meet you." She stuck her hand and Falco shook it. "I'm Rebecca Stillfire."

"WHERE?!" Shouted someone down the adjacent hall. It sounded like Katt and Krystal yelling at the same time. It was soon followed by squeals of delight, and the two began running up to their idol. That is, before Falco stopped Katt. Krystal continued her way over to Rebecca.

"Not so fast, Katt." Falco brought his hand out in front of both of them, palm facing up. "I want the room key."

"Why should I give it to you?! You should've gotten one!"

"Yeah, well, that women at the front desk told me that she thought we would be sharing a room." Katt's mouth went agape. She stomped past him towards the front desk that was all the way back down the hall. Falco, again, stopped her. "Not yet. Give me the key."

"If it means that much to you, why don't you just go to the front desk and get another key yourself?!" Katt shouted right in his face. Falco almost couldn't stand her breath.

"Just give the key, bitch!" Katt gasped, then kneed him in the groin, causing him to fall to the side. As Falco gripped his manhood to ease the pain, Katt threw the card in his eye, further increasing the pain. Unlucky for him, Krystal and Rebecca didn't notice him sprawled on the ground until after all of Krystal's stuff was signed, which took about five minutes. The two rushed over and helped him up.

"Are you okay?" Rebecca asked quickly. Krystal was a bit preoccupied with hugging all her autographed merchandise.

"Well, I just got kneed in the groin and had something thrown at me. Same way all my relationships have ended." Rebecca chuckled a bit, and Falco found it rather odd that she would enjoy his sense of humor. No one ever laughed at his relationship jokes.

"Well, it's been nice meeting you two." Rebecca strolled past them, but turned back to them before leaving after hearing Krystal shout her name.

"Um…Maybe we could grab a coffee later today? You, me and Fox?" Rebecca smiled. She was eager to meet the famous vulpine.

"Sure. I'd love to. Ciao!" And she disappeared from sight. Falco looked to Krystal, a little exasperated.

"What? Would you pass up the opportunity to have lunch with your favorite artist?" Falco thought it over. It was true, he probably wouldn't. Just as he was about to answer, the vixen smiled and said, "That's what I thought." She then went to look for Fox.

"Damn you and your telepathy." Falco smirked.

* * *

Fox finished unpacking in about 20 minutes. He didn't bring much aside from extra clothes, swim trunks, and a few other things. He didn't bother changing at all, even though this was a time to relax. He found it better to just be ready with his tradition outfit that was custom made to fit the few firearms he had. He stood up and walked to the door.

But when he reached for the button on the keypad, he suddenly felt dizzy. He swayed back and forth a bit, grasping the edge of the desk next to him to ensure that he would stay upright. His eyelids drooped over his vision and he finally lost his balance. On his way down, he accidentally pushed the button and the door slid open. It was a bit of luck that someone was walking by just when he fell.

"You okay?" Said the stranger. He had a dark voice, almost hinted with malice. Fox nodded, but regretted it because his bearings weren't quite back yet. A hand was brought out in front of him, and Fox gladly grabbed it and pulled himself up.

"Thanks." Now that he got a good look at him, it was very strange. This person was a fox with black fur. And apparently he figured that his dark fur wasn't enough to keep him from wearing the choice clothes he had on. He was wearing all black. The shirt, the baggy cargo pants, the boots, the trench coat, and the shades; all of it was black.

"Hey…Aren't you Fox McCloud?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Cool. Never thought I'd be able to meet you in the flesh." He seemed a little less than thrilled, but a bit of excitement was there. "Nice meeting ya." He then proceeded on his way down the hall. Fox was a tad bit surprised that he didn't ask for an autograph.

"_Just 'Hi, nice to meet you', and he's gone? Weird."_ Fox thought. That was when Krystal ran up to Fox with a wide grin. "You look happy."

"You'll never guess what we're doing today." She was still grinning madly, and Fox got a bad feeling that she was going to drag him into something he didn't want to do.

* * *

Okay, I could've done better on this, but I'm exactly myself today. I'm a little under the weather, and it's a little hard for me to concentrate. But if I still have readers, then I'm good.

As a little bonus, I'm going to respond to your reviews. This will happen at the end of every chapter. I'll only respond to the last chapter each time, so I'll only put up for chapter two this time.

The Lammynator

this is looking good keep it up or i kill you

_Okay then. If you kill me, the others will kill you, then someone will kill them for killing you for killing me, and so on and so on until the human race is gone. I agree, this IS looking good._

ShadowFox0324

Oh God no. Not a Hannah Montana clone? Her music is just used to brainwash the masses. NOT KIDDING!! Anyway I like where this is going so far. HO-LEE SHIT!! A STEPHEN KING PLOT?! Great now Imma be confused and scared: SWEET!  
"Give into the power of Darkness" -SF0324

_Yes, I know, it's creepy. But the thing is, I'm gonna make her not as hypnotizing. I just needed someone like that to be in here, and in my opinion, she sounded like Hannah Montana. Me like it when I confuse and scare people. That's why I'm here._

_And no, I won't give into the darkness. I'm allergic._

starfighter-105

I like this whole eerie mansion setting you got going. Its cool. Keep it up. Thanks for the support.

_I'm happy to point out that it isn't a mansion but you're the first person to notice how similar to one it is. Glad you like it. And no problem. The other reason I'm here is to make people feel good about their fics._

Hakkyou000

Don't know if I've said it or not, but my computer has a weird thing that won't let me log in, so it's retarded. :(  
Anyways, good jobs on writing this.  
Seems like it won't really be a Halloween thing, huh?  
Anyways, I don't think I'll be updating my story until I can get rid of the thing, so expect it to take a while. Ish. Kinda...Not TO long, but not altogether soon.  
Again, nice job.  
Later

_Wow...bummer, eh? Don't worry, my computer acts retarded, too. Thank you. I wasn't quite sure if people would like the whole chapter being about them going to the resort. Sounds boring, but oh well. Nope, not really Halloween. Like you read in this chapter, it's gonna be kind of a seasonal thing. Ya know what, you should sue your computer for not letting you update. That way, you can get a new one. Hope it doesn't take too long. You hear me, Hakkyou's computer?! I'm watching you! And again, thank you. Peace out.  
_


	4. Embarrassment and Confusion

_Another slow chapter, but it kinda gets into character development and two things that are focused on what is to come. _

_**I'm typing this part in bold so you see it and read it. Just a little advertising. I'm sure everyone here is reading Q&A Madness. Not so much on Ninjas of Lylat,** **so to all my readers, please read it. It is a Naruto/Star Fox crossover, and still people like it. And there is also bailey1109 (forgot the rest of the numbers in his name) who is writing Dusk and Dawn. People, it is a good fic. Sure, a bit of sexual descriptions, but it's still cool. Read those please**. _

_Enjoy!_

_

* * *

_

Chapter 4

Embarrassment and Confusion

"Krystal, did you really have to drag me into this?" Fox asked, a slight whine in his voice. He sat at the table next to Krystal. They were in a small coffee shop that was on the second floor. It wasn't very busy that day, so they got a good seat. But that didn't stop Fox from complaining. Krystal almost begged him to come, so he didn't have a choice. The only it could've been worse was if Rebecca Stillfire was there. At the moment, she wasn't. But Fox knew she was coming. To add to it, he was once again subject to the limelight of popularity, because all of who were actually in the coffee shop, including the waitress had asked them for autographs. There wasn't much to do but wait, so Fox signed them with hopes that it would ease boredom. Still, the many years of this nonstop really wore down on him, and it didn't help that this was what he had to do in order to stave off the "nothing to do" feeling until his least favorite performer showed her hide.

Krystal had the opposite feelings. She took solace in signing autographs and making the fans look happier than they've ever been. In addition, she hoped that Rebecca would as soon as possible. But when she thought this, another little detail ran across her. She didn't even have any means of communication beforehand. She wouldn't be able to organize anything, and the only thing Rebecca knew when it came to time was "later that day". That could've meant anything; it could've meant right then or way later. How was Krystal going to meet up with her?

_"Silly talk."_ She thought. _"She'll probably walk by and spot us. How many blue foxes could she know?"_ She laughed on the inside. Simultaneously, Fox felt an unusual increase of joy. It came suddenly and left just as quickly, leaving him bewildered and hoping that the feeling could've lasted. He looked to Krystal, wondering if she was the cause. But this time, it felt different from what she caused. This unexpected occurrence brought back the memory of what happened just ten minutes before.

He had never felt anything quite like it. He'd lost his balance before, but it was different. It wasn't like having one side of his body overpowering the other and ultimately causing his entire mass to topple. It wasn't like slipping on his step at an odd angle. No, it was a little harder to comprehend.

It was like he lost all strength in his lower extremities in an instant and regained it instantly. And it seemed strange that he didn't act out. Normally, a little thing that would be nothing, and Fox would've at least put his on the ground to immediately bounce back. But his reaction was faltered.

Then he remembered what happened to Krystal. It wasn't quite like what happened to him, but it was strange enough for him to be worried.

"_Were the two events connected? Or was she only tuning into a person's rather perverted or unpleasant thoughts? Or both?"_ It was hard to say, but it could have easily been coincidence.

Someone tapped Fox on the shoulder slightly, and a voice spoke.

"Excuse me, are you Fox McCloud?" Fox scowled for a moment.

"Great." He thought. "Another fan wanting an autograph." He turned around, ready for the worst. But just as he was expecting some piece of paper to be shoved in his face, Krystal spoke up.

"Rebecca!" She said. Fox looked at the female standing there, which happened to be a orange cat around her late teens, early twenties. "Was it hard to find us?"

"Not really. The people who were leaving were talking about how they got you to sign something. It was big giveaway."

"Oh." Krystal giggled a bit, and Rebecca sat down.

"So, what do you think of the Twilight hotel?"

"Well, it's pretty fancy." Krystal answered. "Probably the most extravagant place I've ever been. Besides the palace on Cerinia."

"Oh, yeah. You're from Cerinia." Rebecca put her hand on her chin to support her head with her elbow on the table. "What's it like?"

"Well…" The conversation went on the same way with each new subject. One of them would bring up something, the other would ask about it and the first would elaborate with a tale. Fox's eyes would bob from Rebecca to Krystal to Rebecca and so on. He listened, but didn't have much sense in butting in. Recording contracts, ancient relics, perfume lines, the Stormrunners. It continued on with random things that didn't appeal much to Fox and more than likely wouldn't to anyone with straight masculinity.

Soon, Fox began to get drowsy. His eyes would slowly close, and he struggled to keep them open. If the two girls didn't have problem with him sitting by idly without contributing to the conversation, they would if he fell asleep. However, it was like they were egging him on, like they wanted him to dose off so they could scold him. He continued the conflict, but found it impossible to fight.

His eyes shut completely and he relaxed immensely. The voices of Rebecca and Krystal faded away to nothing, leaving behind a soothing silence. But this was quickly replaced by an irritating rubbing feeling on his head. It had a fair amount that pressure added to it. Fox's eyes shot open, and his head was pinned to the table, and an arm was wrapped around his neck. There was only one person responsible.

Bill.

"Bill, get off me!" Fox managed to say, trying to undo the canine's grip.

"Well, well, not very friendly today, are we?" Bill replied cheerfully. He continued the noogie while the girls giggled quietly. Finally, Fox got out of the grip long enough whirl around and confront him face to face. Bill puts on a look of innocence and had his hands behind his back. He had a wide grin and his eyes were wandering everywhere than his old friend standing in front of him.

"Bill…"Fox began, but he stopped to find the right words. Regardless of his actions, Bill was still his ally, more now than earlier. "Is there a reason for this? I was sleeping, for crying out loud."

"Oh, I just wanted to 'hi'. I mean, how long has it been?" He put his finger to his chin in a thinking gesture. "Couple years. What's up your ass making you ruin my fun?"

"Whose this?" Rebecca asked Krystal.

"Oh, this is Bill Grey. He's head of the Husky and Bulldog squadrons in the Cornerian army." Bill's head turned to the feline, and smiled.

"And might I ask your name, my dear?" He half bowed. Fox rolled his eyes.

"You don't recognize me? I'm Rebecca Stillfire." She brought her hand out for Bill to shake, but he stepped back.

"Wait a minute…Rebecca Stillfire, the famous singer?" He took her hands in both of his and shook it graciously. "It's a pleasure meeting you."

"Must you flirt with everyone?" Fox cut in. Bill looked at him a little exasperated.

"I wasn't flirting, Fox. Can't a guy be star struck when in the presence of a well known artist?" He then crossed his arms. "Hold the phone. Are you jealous?"

"What? No!"

"You certainly act like it." Bill laughed.

"Nonsense." Fox said sternly. "I- Why would I be jealous?"

"How the hell should I know?" Bill shrugged. "Nice meeting you, Rebecca."

"Same here, Bill." She replied. Bill walked past Fox. But just as he was passing a table, he saw a leftover coffee. Lifting it up, he found it was only half empty.

"Well, I think I'm gonna-" Fox couldn't finish the sentence in time. Bill had pulled on his pants to provide a gap, allowing him to pour the coffee down Fox's pants. It leaked through a few seconds later. Fox could feel his boxers absorbing a good amount of the liquid, enough for it to almost reach his 'pleasure center'. Luckily, it was at a moderate temperature instead of its normal scalding nature. He turned to confront Bill, but the canine made a break for it and was already out of the shop. "Damn it. What's his trip?"

"Anyway, it's been nice meeting you both. Bye." Rebecca left in the opposite direction, making sure her tail rubbed up against Fox's arm before it was out of reach.

"I don't have time for-" Fox was interrupted by Krystal putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Fox." She started in a mother-like tone. "Relax. Just because we're watching over Rebecca doesn't mean you have to stay uptight all the time."

"I'm not- …I…I'm not uptight, am I?" He asked, a little concerned. Krystal chuckled a bit.

"No offence, Fox, but you can be a bit of a workaholic and that goes into your attitude. You need to learn how to unwind a bit."

"Sounds like something Falco would say…" Fox grumbled. "You guys have been waiting for a time like this, haven't you? When I finally lay off 'staying vigilant'." Krystal nodded. "Hmm…How to unwind… I think I have an idea."

"That's the spirit." She smiled. "I'd better go unpack." Fox looked down and saw that she still had her bags. Krystal had run off after Rebecca before she had a chance to put her things in her room.

"Here's the key. I know where you room is."

"Really?"

"Yeah…It's right next to mine." Krystal blushed slightly. Luckily, it couldn't be noticed through her fur. Or maybe it was, and Fox just didn't say anything. "Let's go, I'll help you unpack."

"'Kay."

* * *

Slippy had finished unpacking. His room was similar to every other room, only everything was in green. It was as if they knew he would be staying there and they wanted him to blend in. After looking over the room, he went to a small device in his bag that he didn't bother to put away. Along with it was a number of attachments, a few containers of nuts, bolts, and screws, and a couple tools. He grabbed them and set them to his left on the bed. He began working on the device, carefully assembling it and taking care not to hurry it and make a mishap.

He was creating a new blaster that was able to utilize EMF energy in the surrounding area. It would then shoot off a plasma bolt, basically regular blaster fire fused with electricity. What new advantages it would allow the user to gain, he knew not. But it seemed like a good idea.

Just as he reached for the smaller screwdriver, it fell off the bed and rolled under it because of the hard wood floor underneath. He crouched down to find it, seeing it lying a few inches away. He retrieved it, but hit the bottom of the bed in the process. The reason that drew any attention to Slippy was that an object fell from a small crack. He looked at it for a second. It was hard to identify exactly what it was from lack of that, only that it looked like a card. Pulling it out, he was correct. It was card.

The number was scratched out. But that didn't really matter, because Slippy didn't have any intentions of locating the room. He felt like he should return it to the front desk; surely someone was looking for it. He walked out of his room to find Peppy walking by.

"Hey, Peppy." He greeted the hare. "Where're ya headed?"

"Oh, I need to request another room. My room was next to some couple that kept banging against the wall. Who knows why." Slippy had an idea why, one that included newlyweds and the 'magic of the honeymoon', but it wasn't remotely the point. They walked back up to the front desk. Their trip brought them past Bill, who was running away from something. Curious as they were, Peppy and Slippy didn't bother to ask. They at last made it up front, only to find the female attendant gone.

"Damn it." Peppy growled.

"_Now what?"_ Slippy thought. _"I wonder if I can find out whose card this is…" _He walked around the desk and sat down in front of the computer. He brought the mouse over to the records and clicked. The screen that came up had a list of the rooms and the corresponding resident.

"Slippy, what are you doing?" Peppy piped up. He walked around the desk to look at the screen. Slippy was scrolling down the list.

"I'm trying to see which card this is and who lost it." He peered down at the card number. Now that he had a good look at it, the number was partly visible.

"Where did you find that?" Peppy asked.

"Well, my screwdriver fell below my bed, and when I reached for it, this fell out from the bottom part." Peppy appeared confused.

"Why would someone lose their card in your room, and in such a place as in the frame of your bed?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out. And even if it isn't someone's, the hotel will need it back." Slippy identified the number to have a 2 in the hundreds digit. Sadly, the other two were undistinguishable. He sighed at his luck, figuring that he should just wait until the female bird returned. "No luck."

"I'll try again later." Peppy began walking back. Slippy slowly stood up. He looked again at the card, wondering.

_"Why would the card be in the frame of my bed?"_ He thought. He walked around the counter and headed back to his room.

* * *

By the time Fox and Krystal were finished unpacking, it was getting dark. The clock read 7:46.

"Getting late. I'm getting a bit tired." He yawned.

"Oh, so that little nap you took in the coffee shop wasn't enough for you?" She laughed. Fox felt his stomach drop a bit.

"Oh…You knew about that?"

"You were snoring up a storm, how could I not?"

"Oh…" He couldn't have felt more embarrassed at that moment. "Well, I'll be getting back to my room."

"Night, Fox."

"Night." He left with a bit of a smile, relieved that his previous thoughts were wrong. Once he was gone, Krystal stretched out on the bed and turned on the TV. It was on some talk show, but Krystal didn't mind.

Suddenly, she felt a chill. She shivered from the sudden drop in temperature. The blankets helped bring back the warmth. Actually, it did more than that. It quickly made her feel frowsy and barely capable of staying awake. She switched off the light and the TV and fell asleep.

She was not even aware that the door was open to a crack, or that the room was darker than normal, almost pitch black, within seconds in a sweeping motion.

* * *

_There you have it. Hope it wasn't too bad this time, I kinda thought it wasn't that good, except for the ending. Let's answer some reviews!_

_  
_Krys:

Hey its ME again.  
Well I liked it a lot, nice lil humor here and there, the gay guide, Krystal and Katt both beings fans, the squealing, the nice view, the WHAT THE FUCK! something tells me that Falco is gonna fall for Rebecca Stillfire...  
And now for a lil random funny thing:  
my spider sense is tingling.  
no, that's just your crotch.  
Oh...well that explains a lot.  
Lol!

Woot, woot,  
Krys (No your story doesn't sound boring at all, like I said in some other review, I think it was the Starfox Pizzaria story, I said that I really do enjoy stories about StarFox that moves from the whole Aparoid and StarFox saves the universe story plot-line. I enjoy reading random fics like this that involve OC's and a resort...not battle after battle of Aparoids and what-not hero crap that is so over-done. Lol. Nice story, I like it very much.)

_Well, I'll say it now that Rebecca isn't gonna get with anyone...but she will flirt a bit with Fox. ...Random thing just made me feel a bit normal, and I'm the most random and weird person I know. Hooble bobble crapload of tanker trucks with whale sperm! Weird. Thank you for reassuring me. And as always, keep impressing me!_

ShadowFox0324:

What are you talkin about? Your name is Shadow shinobi. Ninjas like the dark. Specially if its in their favor. Anyway this is startin to look awesome. You really make things flow. Cool. Hmm..Stillfire isn't that bad. I could grow 2 like her. Well thats all i got. C ya.  
"If ya got the juice, might as well drink it." -SF0324

_Yes, I guess the name is a little deceiving. My name was for my Naruto OC, which is a shadow shinobi. I make things flow, do I? ...He...You have no idea. Glad you've grown accustomed to Rebecca, and you're right, she's okay. But she is a bit of a whore, flirting with Fox. ...Whore. Oh, and by the way, I'm not drinking my own 'juice', save that line for the super homos._

starfighter-105:

This getting good. Keep it up. thanks for the support.

_Thanks, I think so too. And no prob, always here to help._

LilGstryker:

heheh, you got a nice story going on here. I'm feeling a bit skeptical about that hotel, somethins up. Anyways, great job. keep it up. (adds to alerts)

_Why, thank you. You are right to be skeptical. Big building, mansion like setting...gives you any ideas of what's going on? You'll find out exactly what soon enough. You're on Shadow Alert, the best kind of alert there is! Thank you for shopping at Shinobi Hardware, have a nice day._

Hakkyou000:

Figured out the problem! There's a program that blocks me going to the log in thing at the home page- I'm gonna get rid of it over the weekend. You're developing the story really well! I haven't written for so long, I have my other story entirely planned out. I think I'll make it into two parts...Oh, and I don't like raccoons much...(evil glare)  
Later, and don't break one of your fingers.

_Glad you got the problem settled. Great to have you back. I wasn't quite sure that the story would go so well like this, what with how I'm driving it...Lucky I haven't been drinking. Go Fanfictionmobile! You do what you feel like, and if I'm the reason you hate raccoons, cool. I'm an influence of some sorts. And not the bad kind. Oh, so now you warn me! I'm either typing or playing Guitar Hero: World Tour on hard nowadays! How can I not break my fingers?!_

Timid Vulpine:

Hi hi,

REALLY sorry I haven't been reviewing you. Doing my own thing. SORRY!

One thing, I like the "Falco + Katt" pairing. Are they splitting up permanently, or are they gonna get back together?

Who is the guy in black? Good or bad? Aw man, this is going in "Story Alert". I'm SO into this! Get the next one up soon, please.

Um... what's with the gay guy chasing Bill? Is Fay gonna make an appearance? (OK, Tim, too eager.) Anyway,

Bye byes,

Timid.

_Since it's you, I can forgive you. You know I can't keep them away forever. Although, most of my fics will have them separated. How does that keep happening?! Sex can't be that bad! Guys in black will appear later, he has a big part in here. Got a little idea for him and someone else...hehehe... I just added the gay guy as a recurring character for no reason. Just so that when he comes up, he's easily recognized. He'll appear and you'll say "Oh no, it's that gay guy!". Like I asked before on your Q&A fic...I'm waiting for a response. I might add any of the choices as cameos. Sayonara._

bailey11095503:

Ouch, poor Fox, he's got a big fake teenage popstar like we do. I bet her music is just as bad too. keep it up!

_It won't be that bad beyond her flirting with him. I guess you can call her fake, but she's reall in here, plus she's somewhat of a Hannah Montana...thingy, whatever you call it. It is unpleasant to the guys, but the girls love it...Wait, I might have it so the gay guy listens to it! You gave me the idea, congrats! I sure will, you'll see._

_**Keep impressing me, everyone!**_

_**Shadow**_


	5. What Could This Mean?

_Sorry for the wait. School, other stories, friends, all that rubbish, crap and noise. I hope this can make up for my insubordinate behavior. I recently got a review for this that said I was stretching things out and that the content was a little... well, he didn't say, but I think he felt it as a bit childish. I will admit that Bill's behavior was such, but you'll understand soon enough. You'll see that it isn't far from Fox's reason for relaxation._

_Enjoy!  
_

* * *

Chapter 5

What Could This Mean?

"Slippy, you should stop making a big deal out of this." Peppy said in his wisdom voice. "In all that you know, a card is not something to worked over for."

"I know, Peppy." They were nearly at the toad's door. "It's just it doesn't feel normal. It's like this belongs to someone and they need it back _now_."

"Why do you say that?"

"I don't know, I just have a feeling. Something about this ain't right." They finally reached his door, and Peppy bid him farewell, looking down at the floor as a way to express his opinion on how Slippy was going at this. He opened his door and sat down on the bed. The tools on the bed were there, same position as before. He looked at the card, more specifically at the scratched number.

It was just too odd that he would find it in such a place and in such a condition. _"Who in their right mind would do that? Someone surely needs this, so why would they put it in the frame of the bed?" _A draft found its way to him. He looked over and saw that the door to the balcony was wide open. It was now dark, and the wind was blowing in. Shivering a bit, Slippy shut it and slid the lock so it wouldn't fly open the rest of the night.

"I don't remember leaving it open…" He said under his breath. He walked back over to the bed and continued to work on the blaster.

* * *

**Two hours later**

Katt got up from her relaxed position outside on the bench. Ever since Falco yelled at her earlier, she couldn't have been in more of a bad mood. She sat, arms crossed, hoping that the relaxing sight of the sunset followed by the shine of the moon and stars would calm her rage. But it had little effect. Just seeing Falco these days was enough to put a fire in her gut, but him shouting at her was way over her limit as to her 'cool Katt' persona.

Not at all content in the somewhat cold night air, she got up and walked back up to the hotel. By now, a few lights were off. Her watch read 9:04, which explained why a number of the residents were turning in. She finally made to the front doors and went inside. Her card had the number 145; looking at the directory, it was near the other side of the hotel.

She made her way along the hallway with large window to the left. The windows were so large that they substituted the wall. It gave her yet another view of the night sky, now filled with scattered stars and the large, illuminating moon. This and the reflection across the water lit up the hallway in an eerie fashion. It sent a bit of a chill down Katt's spine, the combination of the lighting and the silence.

But silence wasn't quite true. Though she wasn't listening very intently, Katt soon heard whispering. It wasn't very audible, which made it sound like it was coming from the next room. But there was a slight problem with that.

There were no room adjacent to the hall, or at least to Katt's knowledge.

She turned to peer behind her; no one was there. She looked ahead, and still no signs of life. And this did not help calm her down when the whispering began to grow in volume. Now it sounded as close as right inside the wall beside.

However, not wanted to panic or cause one, she thought that it was possible that a conversation was going on upstairs, and the mixture of its intensity and the interference of the ceiling was making it sound like a whisper.

_"That's it."_ She calmed herself. _"Nothing to get worked up about. Your anger is just getting to you, in a weird way I might add." _Her walking resumed at a brisk pace; the voices might be from someone upstairs, but it still made her uneasy with the location, uneasy enough to make nausea appear in her stomach. _"Get a grip on yourself. First you get treated like a slut by Falco in front of Rebecca, and now you let this little scene get the best of you. Okay, I'll just…Just…"_

Katt's train of thought was slowing down to a stop, and now she knew that something was wrong. The whispering grew louder, so loud that it was now an audible statement. At least part of it was, as the words would fade out in an unnatural manner.

"…Go…Go…" It sounded like a child's voice, a little girl. Katt was swaying from side to side, not able to even attempt stepping forward and on her way. The voice continued on, ringing in Katt's ears over and over. "Go…Go…Kill you…" Now, the tone was more menacing, more demanding of its whim to be acted out. What it wanted, however, Katt knew not. All she knew now was the possible consequence. "Kill…Go…Kill…" It could be that the presence wanted nothing more than for Katt to leave. If it were as simple as that, the answer could have been led to many different sources; the most legitimate, at the moment when the feline's rational thoughts were not with her, was the existence of some unknown creature.

Irrational as it was, it seemed logical at the time to figure as much, and no other explanation could take this and Katt's falling over from dizziness and be reasonable. She looked ahead through eyes that did not want to remain in a single position, the lids slowly moving up and would then droop down. Her vision was foggy, which also added to her difficulty of comprehension.

A little girl vulpine, no older than seven, was walking forward slowly, each foot taking about three seconds to move forward and be planted firmly in front of her. Her fur was snow white with a slight tinge of gray, which matched her eye color. She was not wearing any shoes, her bare feet exposed to the mildly cold air. She was wearing a red dress, one that reached just below her knees; Katt figured it must've been a nightgown of some sort.

"Who…Who are you?" Katt asked. "Why are you up this…late?" She clutched her head once again on account of the lightheaded feeling not fading away at all. The girl edged ever closer, and Katt wondered why her steps were so irregular. "Are you okay?"

"Go…Now…" The girl said. Katt's eyes open wide with astonishment, or at least as wide as possible at the moment. The girl was now only a few feet away, giving the feline a better glimpse at whoever she was.

The gown wasn't red; it was white and stained with blood.

Katt began whimpering from the sight, the new look on a seemingly innocent little girl. She was reaching out to her, drops of the chill bringing red liquid dropping on the carpet. The girl's face no longer looked innocent and sweet, but rather like she had seen a ghost; pale and wide eyed. The gray eyes stared intently, not straying away from their target.

Katt let out a scream as the girl's arm passed right through her body instead of putting pressure on it. Now she was sure of the nature of the creature. No living thing could do what it had just done, and only something of paranormal nature could prove such a feat. Katt screamed even louder once its face was almost about to pass through hers. The face, up close, held a perfect example of evil.

When Katt could no longer scream, she couldn't hold back her conscious mind giving up. She fell back on her back. She was now laying full length on the ground. The girl backed away, now standing straight up. She looked down sternly at Katt, absorbing the feeling of what she had just done.

She heard footsteps behind her. In a matter of seconds, she faded into nothing. Had Katt been awake, she would have witnessed the immediate change in the hallway. The air wasn't chilled, there wasn't a feeling of fear, and the moon was shining brighter than before the event.

The person who heard the scream ran up to Katt's limp body. Kneeling down, he checked her for any injuries or abnormalities. The moonlight gleamed against his black fur, something of a glossy sheen present. Once sure that the feline was unharmed, he picked her up, one arm under her knees and the other around her back, and began carrying her in the direction that he figured she was headed. He didn't have much of an idea, but since no one was at the scene, so the way she was facing was a good indicator of where she was headed.

He looked down at her. Now that her moment of terror was over she looked peaceful; he actually would've described her as cute. Her pink fur was radiant as bits of moonlight shined across it. He smiled, thinking of himself as lucky for having been available at the time. It wasn't everyday he got to save a woman like her.

Once at his room, he laid her down on the bed. He pulled the black satin covers up to her neck. She somehow knew that this was happening, and curled up underneath as a reaction. A small smile curled up on her face as a follow up. The stranger smiled, too.

So, with no bed to sleep in, he plopped down on the couch. He had his feet up on one end, and his head resting on the pillow on the opposite. He didn't really see any reason to change out of his clothes; not even his trench coat bothered his. However, he did remove his boots and his black shades. His luminescent green eyes shone in the darkness. In fact, they glowed and could be visible in complete and utter darkness.

One side of his trench coat fell over the edge of the couch, revealing his blaster. It, like its owner's eyes, glowed light green along the fuel cells on the side. The high energy levels it had store made the black vulpine curious, and a little nervous as to the reason why it was full so soon after entering the hotel. Normally, to get a full tank would take up a few hours. But it wasn't so much as thirty minutes after he arrived that it said the confirming message.

In addition, the odd way he found Fox that day… It wasn't normal that the hero of Lylat would fall on his rear end that easily.

"_Wait, what am I thinking?"_ He thought to himself. _"Crazy talk, everyone falls down. This place and all that's going on is just getting to me."_ With that, he relaxed and fell into a deep slumber.

* * *

"Mother?" Krystal asked her mother, standing beside her. The small cerulean fox was only six years old, the time where her curiosity as to why this was happening would grow. "Why are they fighting? Why can't they just get along?" Her mother looked down at her child, a loving smile began to spread across her face. She knelt down beside her.

"My sweet little Krystal," Her voice was very comforting. She wasn't too old, only now close to her thirtieth birthday. "If your father's mission is a success, that is just what will happen. There is nothing to worry about, my child." She embraced her, and Krystal held tightly, feeling the safest she had all day. They let go, and her mother stood up and looked out over the balcony once more.

The battle was gruesome, both sides losing men in great numbers. The swords clashed, blood was spilt, and screams were very much hearable from even up in the palace. Krystal's mother clutched the balcony. Not only were the palace and her precious daughter in danger, but her husband, too. He was the first to run into combat, and wondering whether or not he was uninjured, or would just make it out alive, was becoming too much for her to handle.

Krystal could sense her mother's anxiety, and embraced with tears running down her face. The small princess, who barely came above her mother's waist, did not want her mother to fret. She knew that her father would make it out alive. Her mother sensed her daughter's courage, and also starting crying. She put a hand on her daughter's shoulder as a gesture for her to look up.

"I love you, Krystal." She knelt down once more and embraced her.

"I love you, too." Her voice, even though quivering from the depression, stayed as innocent as ever. This would all change in seconds.

Her mother let go and clutched her throat. She struggled to keep air, but found it nearly impossible. Krystal tried saying something, but she was speechless from what was occurring right in front of her eyes. Her mother was dying, one the most feared scenarios Krystal had imagined. Her mother fell down the steps into the enormous ballroom; the balcony outside it was the only available view of the action below.

Down the steps, a foot allowed her mother's body to come to rest. The foot brought its way up to her neck, choking her even further. He held that position until the mother's death was assured.

"Tsk, tsk." Said the man who was at the bottom of the steps. He looked up at Krystal. He was a black wolf. He was wearing a black robe and black boots. Nothing else was visible other than his hands and head. He smiled maliciously at the small girl he looked forward to encountering. He walked up the steps slowly; savoring the young vixen's fear while it built up. She stepped backwards to elude the intruder. Unfortunately, the railing ceased her movement.

The stranger was at the top of the steps and was soon only a foot from Krystal. "Call me Damien." He pulled out a sword from under his cloak. It had a blood red handle and the blade looked as though it was fashioned from diamond. He stabbed it into the balcony and a crack began forming. It reached either side of the balcony before the small structure began to slide. Once free from the rest of the building, the part of the balcony Krystal was on plummeted to the ground.

She screamed, but it was as if she didn't. The battle below drowned out the shriek. It hit the ground, and-

* * *

Krystal sat up in bed, her sweat finding refuge in between her fur. She panted a bit, still stricken by the events of the nightmare. Her fear only escalated when she saw her room was almost pitch-black. She had experienced nightmares like the one she had, but never was the room completely black. There had been some form of light, some relief from the terror.

The door slid open to reveal Fox. He walked in and went beside Krystal's bed.

"Krystal, you okay?" He sounded concerned. "You were screaming. Was it another dream?"

"Yes…" She said, still a bit dazed. "But I'm okay now. Thanks." Fox smiled, Krystal doing the same, and walked back to the door. He opened in and started walking to the right. "Wait, Fox." He walked back a step and peered into the room, door still open. "Isn't your room to the left?"

"Yeah, but I wanna take care of something before bed, now that I'm awake." He held up a black Sharpie and grinned. "Night."

"Night." Krystal answered. The door shut and the room was flooded with darkness once more. Another resident from the next room to the left hit something against the wall and said something about quieting it down. Krystal remained in her sitting position, her mind full of thought. _"That dream… I remember it happening the same way, but…" _She laid down and closed her eyes. She was asleep before she could finish the thought.

* * *

_I wonder what this is about? Wait, no I don't. I'm the author, with awesome author powers. Or A.A.P, according to Timid. (I see that everyone has gotten used to that whole situation.) The black fox will be introduced later. And the deal with Falco and Katt will be filled. Bet you can guess half of it._

_To the reviews!_

_  
_bailey11095503:

Lol thanks. I think it would be hilarious if that gay dude sang along to it in some kind of imitation of her voice. Keep it up!

_No problem. That's a good idea, I might use it. Maybe if he has to run the front desk. And don't worry, I will!_

KrzyKrn K.:

OMG! FINALLY YOU GOT THE NEXT CHAPTER UP!  
Well, that was unexpected...the whole hidden card thingy...you know that movie called "Room 1608" Or is it just called "1608"? Well ya this fic. reminds of that movie...UHG! So scary...I'm nver staying in a hotel room again...espicially not one with the numbers 1608 over the door.  
If you don't know the movie then search it on google and look at the desciption and what-not...you'll see...its an evil room...but all it needs is some good old lovin and it'll become a good room in no time!

Awesome chapter BTW...but I spotted a couple of spelling errors, not to mention you left out a couple of letters so some parts didn't really make much sense but I could still make out what you were trying to say. Don't worry about those errors, I'm sure you misspelled some b/c you were so preoccupied with typing this story.

Thnx for the review on my Thanksgving fic. Did ya really think it was funny? Well, anyways and anyhow be prepared for the Christmas fic. which will surely be the big final on-shot story...actually the New Year's one will be the "FINAL" one-shot story thingy but Christmas will probably be the MOST significant.

Best Wishes and Happy Thanksgiving,  
Krys

_Whoa, long review. Yes, I know it. That doesn't really contribute to the story, but that is a good comparison. There is one room that does somewhat relate, but that's for later. Good point, sometimes when I'm typing, I skip over words in a hurry. I need to work on it kinda. If I could only make myself take the time to check over the damn thing. Good so far on the Christmas fic. I feel a little ashamed that I'm not writing one, but to write a good one would recquire a good amount of time. Next year. more than likely, I will write one._

_Keep impressing me!_

_Shadow_

theXbeat08:

Good story so far. I kinda feel bad for not reviewing chapter-to-chapter, but I'm too lazy.

I've never seen the movie this story's supposed to reflect, 'cuz I hate scary movies. But I have a feeling something bad's gonna happen? Am I right? Well, whatever.

For this chapter: Nice one, throwing Bill in. Good old Bill. Just one quick thing - if Falco was there it could have been some totally awkward thing between him & Rebecca, 'cuz it seems like Rebecca has a mini-crush on Fox. Just a thought.

Good luck,  
theXbeat08

_Oh well, some people don't. It's not that bad. It doesn't really reflect anything. The only thing I forged from was the setting; it was based on the hotel that Stephen King based his story "The Shining" off of. Yes... Something bad. It'll be cool though. Yes, Rebecca is gonna hit on Fox. Hahaha, I'm pure evil._

starfighter-105:

This is different, I like it. I give poor Fox sympathy for having to deal with a ditsy pop star, such a horrible fate! lol  
anyways keep it up. and thats for the support man.

_I know, but she turns out to be not so bad later. It's the person that she's based off of that is a menace. Hannah Montana must die, and I'm gonna be the one to kill her! And as always, I will. And thank YOU for the support._

ShadowFox0324:

DAMN IT!! THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! Ugh...forget it. There's no point in giving you quotes. Anyway you kinda confuzzlelated me in the coffee shop scene. Really? I don't see Stillfire as a whore. Now Hannah Montana is a different story. ROFL. At any rate this has a dark, yet very exquisite feel to it. Another thing the hell be up with Bill? Hmm...overall: PWNAGE! Keep it up...

"SIC VIS PACEM PARABELLUM"-Latin

_It was a joke. Stillfire isn't a whore, but the hero of Lylat was in her grasp, and she saw herself as irresistible. Apparently she doesn't know Fox isn't a fan. You see, the thing with Bill will be explained later. After Fox's dark prank is revealed. You'll understand, 'cause I think we've all experienced it before. Yes, he totally pwned Fox. That was the idea._

_The only word in there I know is Pacem, which means peace I think. Cool, so now I can't retaliate. coughLatinfreakcough._

notfromearth7:

Well, this story is pretty good. You keep the readers on their toes, vigilant for whenever the main conflict will take place.

Anyway, I don't know...it seems like you're trying to stretch out the story and filling it with random stuff, such as Bill pouring coffee down Fox's pants. All I ask is, really?

And half the time, since you lack description, it's unclear what's really going on.

I mean, you're an impressive writer, but you can always get better.

_I answered this before directly to you, but just so the others know. I'm trying not to get into the plot too quickly. The random has a purpose, either contributing to the main plot or not. I put in more of the main plot in this chapter, and also worked harder this time on the description. Hope it suits you. And yes, I plan to get better. I've only been writing for about 4 months. But I'm an icon this quickly. Wow. I'll do my best with better work._

Hakkyou000:

I've been busy with school, so I haven't been able to update. :(  
The story's really good now; I think that I would fall asleep if I was ever caught in a situation like Fox's, too.  
So, keep writing.  
Best regards, Hakkyou.

(By the way, you think I should do another Q&A fic? People are giving me questions now but I've already deleted it...)

_I know. I find myself on the verge of sleep in class with boring subjects. I'm gonna try and impress my fans even farther, much like they have. _

_Wait, so now is everyone signing their reviews and PM's? Weird._

HaloEvangelion03:

and the plot thickens...marginally. Fox and Krystal having those weird sensations, some 'swooping darkness' in Krystal's room, something's up...i know it

your grammar's also OK, with the occasional hiccup, i've seen MUCH worse, but it defintly wouldn't hurt to fix the few errors you have if you get free time or writer's block.

_Now you're catching on! I will do some work. I think we're improving on our grammar in class, and I'm taking the advanced class, so it might improve soon. I might do that, but I'm lazy as hell._

_Well, that's all of them. Thanks everyone! Keep impressing me! And Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, Have a good Yule, whichever applies to you. I don't know what you're religion is.  
_


	6. Exit Terror, Enter Shayne

_Sorry it took so long. At least_ _I'm here to break in the new year. I dearly hope you will excuse my tardiness. And I hope you don't mind that this is another slow chapter. But, as the chapter suggests, someone new will enter the picture. If you've paid attention to my profile and my crappy way to describe my OCs, you will know. **And remember people, I'm answering your reviews at the bottom! **And by the way, the chapter title is spoofing a part of the lyrics in "Enter Sandman" by Metallica. "Exit light, enter night, take my hand, off to Never-Never Land." So yeah. _

_**And a big hand to Timid Vulpine. She agreed that Theya Monroe, Katt's mother, could make an appearance! Thank you, Timid!**_

_**Enjoy!  
**_

_

* * *

_

Chapter 6

Exit Terror, Enter Shayne

The sun rose up over the periphery of the view of the sky. An orange tinge spread across the beach; it spread across the lake; and the hotel was next in line for its rightfully deserved warmth. All of whom that happened to wake at that moment was filled with a sense of happiness- the sun having some strange and unexplainable affect on them.

This included Krystal. Her eyes slowly came open as her morning drowsiness followed consciousness. The blankets were sprawled all over the bed in a way that evidence much tossing and turning in the night. Then it came back to her, the dream. Wanting to escape from reminiscing about the terror she experienced, she walked to the bathroom for a shower.

* * *

Katt awoke, the sun's rays finally irritating her eyes to the point where she could no longer ignore it. She rose and rubbed her eyes for focus. She found herself in a room completely fitted in black. _"Wow. Too goth for me." _She pulled the covers away and got off the bed. She now noticed she was wearing the same clothes from last night. She considered herself lucky; whoever put her here might have stripped her when she was vulnerable.

She was about to open the door when something caught her attention. In the corner of her eye she saw movement coming from the room adjacent to her current position. Her instant assumption was that that was the one who brought her there. Whoever it was it seemed hard to feel safe in a situation that Katt found herself in. She quickly opened the door and bolted out, hoping that she left no indication that she was ever there. Ironic, being that the stranger knew she had been there the whole.

And humorous it was, at least to him that his thoughts were played out right there. She had done exactly as he thought she would- once knowing that her 'captor' was within audible range, added with the knowledge that this person could be potentially dangerous, she would flee. The man laughed to himself, amused at his little guest. With his day set off at the right angle, he removed the towel and stepped in the shower.

* * *

Slippy awoke at the sound of the alarm clock. His eyes flickered open, peering on a small puddle of drool from the opening in his mouth. His head was on its side on the nightstand. To his side were the parts and the currently assembled mass that was to become a blaster. He slammed his hand on the clock, silencing it. He stretched and tried to recall what had happened the night before.

He had pondered about the ever-mysterious card, he lost his train of thought and resumed work on the blaster, which resulted in him falling asleep, and nothing much other than that. He wiped up the saliva with a nearby rag and placed everything he had used last night in his bag. He felt through his pocket to find the card. Looking at it still didn't help him uncover its secrets. And wondering about it didn't shed any light on why he felt so concerned about it.

He had lied to Peppy when he said that he thought someone needed it- if he had told him the real reason, the hare would've said that he needed to relax and stop cooping himself up in his room for hours on end. It was true that a small portion of him stayed with the feeling that someone was searching for this. The rest had the fact in mind that someone would not lose their key card in such a place as someone else's room in the frame of the bed. It was about as unbelievable as Falco's gloating after his big entrance on Sauria to finish off Andross. While it did seem that he had a number of awe-inspiring adventures, the others couldn't quite grasp why it was worth recollecting in such a bragging manner.

Most of him thought that the card once belonged to someone, but it was more concerned on its connection to the hotel. It was obvious that it was how to unlock one of the doors there, -one that had a two in the hundreds digit- but Slippy felt that there was more to it than just your basic locking mechanism. It was like it held a secret that, when made known, would uncover some large mystery.

Slippy closed his eyes to concentrate, trying to think of every possible explanation for this situation. His thoughts were dashed when he heard a faint scraping sound. It sounded close, and on a surface like the wall.

The wall right next to him.

A knock came at the door. Slippy looked over at it. Peppy's voice came from the other side.

"Slippy, you awake? You're gonna miss breakfast." Slippy remembered then. Breakfast ended at 9:00am. He looked at his clock, and it read 8:40am.

"Thanks Peppy." He called. "I'll be right out." He took one last look at the card, made one last thought. Like before, it led nowhere. So he put it in his pocket and walked over to the door. He opened it and walked down the hall, managing to catch up to Peppy.

"Hey, Slip. You take a shower this morning?"

"Uh…I guess not. I fell asleep working on that new blaster."

"You might wanna take care of that after breakfast."

"Right. Sorry."

Back in his room, the scraping resumed, and it got louder. Marks began to appear on the wall. The paint broke away easily, making it almost child's play for the letters and numbers to take form. Once it stopped, a phrase appeared.

_ROOM 214?_

* * *

Fox always liked waking up early when not on the Great Fox. It had always been that he had to, being that he felt being on alert as long as possible meant something to more high paying jobs. It always bugged him, and he still wondered why Peppy was able to do just that, and the feeling of waking up to another day when Solar was hardly visible made him reluctant to rise from bed, which was in desperate need of replacement. On other matters, he always liked the morning glow of everything whenever possible. He somehow saw past the normal shine and found some more down and deep meaning, maybe how it was some means of washing away negative feelings of the day's prior.

But today was a little different. If there was one thing, he was known for, other than awakening earlier than most whether he liked it or not, it was interpreting the other's moves. Had Krystal not convince him after what happened with Bill the day before, his brilliant plan would not have come to fruition.

He sat in the coffee shop from yesterday, every now and then sipping from the cup he had ordered, awaiting the guest of honor and preparing himself not to lose it. Sure, what he had done was a bit immature, but when getting to this particular person, only the most underhanded and childish moves would get to him or provide a decent laugh at the expense of his pride. Looking on it, it seemed out of character to act in such a way when such a title was upon you. Although, when that title brought so much work that free time was a golden opportunity, sporting an attitude like that would come naturally and, with any luck, fade into the normal manner of messing around just as much only as adults.

Fox suddenly remembered what had occurred with Krystal. He got up and made his way to her room. What he had planned would have to wait until he was sure that Krystal was all right. On the way, he passed Slippy and Peppy.

"Hey, Fox, aren't you gonna get breakfast? They're not gonna be serving it for much longer." Peppy called out. The answer was only that Fox didn't acknowledge him. He was fixed on discovering Krystal's condition. Clearly, Peppy didn't mind; Fox had always acted in such a way when a situation such as this concerned the female member of Star Fox.

He finally reached her room. Without regard for privacy and only for her peace of mind, he opened the door. This turned out to be a mistake.

"Fox!" Krystal shouted, shielding her naked body from view with the shirt and jeans that she had chosen to wear for the day. Fox froze and covered his eyes. He quickly turned to find his way out the door, hitting the wall twice before being successful.

"Sorry." He called, hoping she heard. "I was just checking, 'cause of what happened last night. I was just… ya know, being sure." He heard nothing for a few seconds. "So…Um…I'll be down at the coffee shop, if you-"

"You can come in now." She said, not a hint of a grudge in her voice. Fox was relieved to know she didn't just cast him away. He opened the door and walked in. Krystal, now fully clothed, walked over.

"You wanted to know about the dream, didn't you?" She asked.

* * *

"So, you decide to come crawling back to me for comfort, eh?" Falco said to Katt. They stood outside his door. Katt thought that, even though they had broken up recently, Falco would be there for her to lend some assistance or comfort for what happened. "You were able to handle yourself all those other times. Why is it that now you wouldn't be capable of settling something like this?"

"I'm not as good at hand-to-hand combat, Falco." She said worriedly. "I just wanted you around just in case they find me again."

"And what are the chances of that?" He had his arms crossed.

"It's not everyday you meet a cat with pink fur, Falco. I stand out like a gay guy in a clothing store when there's a 50% off sale. This guy looked strong, and the only one I know close to his strength would be you."

"Forget it. I just don't get it either, this isn't how you act. You wouldn't come crying to me 'cause you found yourself in another guy's room suddenly. You would've blown it off and tried to avoid the guy instead of looking for help."

"Maybe you're right, Falco, but that doesn't mean you have to be a jackass about it." Falco pushed his way past her, mumbling about getting a bite before breakfast was over. Kat sighed, thinking over what he said. It was true- she would not have acted in such a way in any other circumstance. But regardless, she was feeling more emotional than usual. All she could do now was try and get over it. _"Maybe Mom can help me get through this…"_ She walked back to her room, beginning to dial on her cell.

* * *

Theya sat on the couch, alone again for another night. She was quietly drinking a glass of wine she had in her hand. When she wasn't she would make a swirling motion to move it around the inside of the glass. A lot was on her mind, the most troubling of which was the condition of her daughter, Katt. She wasn't terribly shocked when she heard the news of her breakup with Falco, but what concerned her was how she was dealing with it. She knew Katt was a strong girl, but if she was anything like her mother, breakups were a bit harder to get over than one would assume from how many others react.

Her cell, sitting on the coffee table that she was resting her feet on rang. She gently set the glass down and checked the caller ID. She was happy knowing it was her daughter, the screen saying 'Katt' in luminescent letters.

"Hello." She answered.

"Hey Mom. I think we need to talk."

"About you and Falco?"

"Well, that's one thing. I'm still recovering from that. I guess I really take after you." Theya looked at the small photo on the table. It held the picture of the man she had been with years ago, the one that she would never see again. Tears began building up, but the feline got a hold of herself and resumed the call.

"Listen, Katt. If I've learned anything, from experience or not, it's that you need to find a way to fill that void. You can't linger on Falco and hope he takes you back. It's all the matter of landing on your feet (A/N: Get it? Cats always land on their feet? I got that halfway through typing it.) instead of letting the fall cripple you. Just keep a positive attitude and look for that special guy who will treat you right. He'll be there, waiting to pick you up when you fall down and to spend time with you. He'll be there, okay?"

* * *

Katt sat on her bed as she heard this. Emotions never ran this easy with her, but she was smiling and a few tears were running down her cheek. What she had heard inspired her greatly.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Good. Now what's this other thing?"

"Oh. Well, you've heard of the Twilight motel, correct?"

"Well, yeah. I remember staying there once. I had a lot of fun. Why?"

"Well…" Memories of her encounter the night before flashed through her mind; the whispering, the girl… All gave her a small chill, and it felt like the room was getting colder. "Um…Did anything strange happen while you were here?"

"No, not really. Why, did something happen?"

"It's nothing. Thanks for everything, Mom."

"No problem, Katt."

"'Kay, bye." She clicked the phone shut, thinking about what her mother said. "She's right. I just need to find that special person. Someone who will-" Something came to her. She had been awake the night before when she felt someone carry her to a nearby room. She had lost consciousness, but awoke partway. If she remembered correctly, she was in the arms of a black fox.

Her thoughts were cut short when a knock came at the door. When she opened it, a black fox stood in front of her. He was wearing a black shirt and black cargo pants. It was covered partly by his black trench coat. He also had on black boots, and a pair of black shades. The whole get up was very mysterious.

"Pardon me for asking, but are you Katt Monroe?" His voice was both ominous and welcoming at the same time.

"Yes, I am."

"I figured. You're probably the only feline with pink fur. Listen, last night I found you lying on the ground in one of the halls. I was just checking to see if you were all right."

"…I-I'm fine. So…you're the one who…" She said feebly.

"Yeah. The name's Shayne. Shayne Hartfield." He held his hand. She took a moment to shake it. "Well, it's been nice meeting you. I'll be off." He began walking off down the hall, but Katt ran up and put a hand on his shoulder, halting him. Her turned his head just enough to see her.

"Would you wanna…" She tried to find the words without getting lost in herself. "…Grab a coffee later?" She asked.

"Hmm…Sure. How's three for ya?" He replied. She nodded. "Good. See ya then."

* * *

"So you've had this dream before?" Asked Fox. "Only it was a different person?"

"Yes. I always remember it being this overlord of some race, but instead it was a black wolf by the name of Damien." Krystal answered.

"But why would the dream end differently? Sounds to me like something happened that altered it."

"That's what I thought, but it's always been the same, and now it's not."

"…I think it's just the hotel. You still haven't gotten used to absolutely everything. I'd guess it's just the first feeling of staying in one. Everyone's gone through it at some time."

"…That makes sense. Thanks Fox." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, making him blush.

"Well, we'd better get breakfast. It's ending here soon." With that, they got up and left. Krystal locked the door behind her. Back in the room, the lights dimmed. A voice appeared.

_"Huh…Denial. So, that's their acceptance ace in the hole. We'll just see about that…"_

_

* * *

_

_Yeah, some mystery going on. Who exactly is Shayne Hartfield? What is his intentions. And who might be that weird voice. Hey, at least I'm spicing things up a little instead of with the usual keeping it under taps as long as possible. Let's answer some reviews!_

Hakkyou000:

Once again, you've done great.  
Er, yeah, mines moving along as well..  
I expect my story to be long though...  
Hm...Ah, Don't break a finger! :D  
Best Regards,  
Hakkyou

PS- I've actually always done the thing at the end to make it seem like a letter...And the black fox, that's your OC, right?

_Why thank you my Final Fantasy obsessed friend. I hope your story will be long. I don't wanna be disappointed. Disappointment makes me itchy. And I won't break a single thing...but my duodenum has been sprained. And yes, he is my OC. Awesome, he's awesome. And, according to this chapter, gets with Katt._

HaloEvangelion03:

i got a feeling that that darkness was responsible for Krystal's nightmare

good chapter, by the way

_Why yes. How'd you guess? You must be a detective. Thank you._

ShadowFox0324:

Hey nobody likes haters man. Hahaha, anyway I can't get over how dark this is, and the fact that you just revealed a part of Krystal's past makes me wonder. Can't wait for more. BTW Sic Vis Pacem Parabellum means "If you want peace, get ready for war." I think it is a bit releavant seeing as how something big will happen. I can see how you can think that, but again I don't see that as being a whore. I say she's being arrogant. Anyway this is awesomeness

_Me no hater. Krystal's past just plays a small part. I replaced who was possibly the real guy and put in that dude. Nice metaphor, it is true that something similar to what you said will happen. I just see it as whorish. Rebecca= not a whore, but still wants to win over the heart of Fox. Katt= somewhat. I've always seen her as that. Hannah Montana= o, big time prostituteslutwhorebitch. Like the custom word? Thanks for encouraging me. It makes this Pace salsa so much better. Too bad we can't fix the shape of the bottle!  
_

_  
_starfighter-105:

I'm curious to see what Fox is going to pull on Bill. Does Katt love or hate Falco in this? Keep it up dude, and thanks for the support.

_Trust me, it's a bit immature. But it suits the situation. I'll put it in the next chapter. Katt is mad at Falco for breaking up with her. Guess who she's gonna be with now. No problem, always here to help._

KrzyKrn K.:

Sorry I didn't get to this as quick as I wanted to b/c of school and blah blah balh.

Good chapter yet again...no errors that I could rlly pick out.

And and this is addressed to your reply to HAkkyou's review.

I STARTED THE WHOLE SIGNING REVIEW AND P.M. THING!  
Ya I was the one who constantly did that Best Wishes thing and now everyone is doing it!

ARGH WHY MUST THEY TAUNT ME SO? Lol

Best Wishes,  
Krys

_That's okay, school's a drag sometimes. Wow, nothing? Really? I'm a bit surprised. 'Kay dude, sorry about it. I mean, yours is unique. Mine is unique. Anyone who does it is just signing it and saying something different. Sorry dude. If it's that bad, I'll stop. But, ya know, thanks for the support._

bailey11095503:

Br now i've got chills. Great job on details on the girl btw. I read that and suddenly the room got a lot colder...any ideas? Anyway, great chapter!

_Thanks. I was hoping you guys would dig it. CAN YOU DIG IT?!?!?! That's creepy, I really did that good? I don't even watch scary movies! HAHA! But I do watch ghost shows like Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures... Thanks dude!_

_All right, there you are! I feel psyched, so I might have another chapter up soon. Don't get your hopes up though._

_**Don't stop being prodigious, everyone!**  
_


	7. Hope and Regrets

_I'm back. I'm terribly sorry for the wait. School and writer's block. Anyway, here is something I had for a while, but never got around to finishing on a moment's notice. On an additional note, he might be reading this, but I wanna give my props to starfighter-105. He is got to be one of the most prodigious people I've known. You rule man._

_**Remember people! I'm replying to your reviews at the end!! And also, don't forget to look at bailey11095503's fics! I'm only saying this 'cause I'm the only reviewer.  
**_

_Enjoy!_

_

* * *

_

Chapter 7

Hope and Regrets

"Say, Fox," Krystal asked, "what were you doing last night?" She remembered his little unknown excursion, one that involved the black sharpie.

"Oh, that." He chuckled a bit. "Well, if a special guest arrives on time, we should be in for quite laugh. But until then, I cannot disclose anything." He smiled mischievously.

Krystal contemplated on the idea of probing his mind and finding exactly what kind of roguish deed he had committed. But she had trust in him, and only hoped that abstaining from knowing what he had done would prove to be an enjoyable moment. So, for the time being, she would keep to herself and not find a quick way out of anxiousness and inquisitiveness.

They made it to one of the halls that were open to full service of meals at three different times of the day: morning for breakfast, early afternoon for lunch, and late afternoon for dinner. And, just as they suspected, the first serving had ceased, and not too long before they arrived by the looks of it. Peppy beckoned them over to a table where he was seated across from Slippy. It appeared that Slippy was far from ceasing his consumption, because the whole time that Fox and Krystal made their way over, he was over his plate, eating away at the large amount of food he was able to fit on his plate.

"You got enough there, Slip?" Fox inquired, seating himself. Krystal did so as well. Slippy just sat up, swallowing whatever he had in his mouth to make room for speech.

"Well, at least I get to eat. You two missed it." He retorted.

"Yeah, I guess we did," Fox agreed, "but it's not a total loss."

"Why?"

"Just wait. It should be coming any minute."

At the end of the sentence, Bill walked through the doors of the dining room. He didn't dawdle in locating the small group, which for whatever reason he felt like finding. He walked over at a moderate pace. For whatever reason, Fox was snickering under his breath the whole time they awaited the soon to be ruined calm. The only thing that Krystal got from this is that this was what Fox told her about, even though it didn't seem so at first. Slippy and Peppy, however, just kept to themselves with whatever leisure act they had been doing minutes earlier; Peppy, reading out of the _Cornerian City Record_, or Slippy, indulging himself in the still unfinished pile of food on his plate.

"'Sup guys?" Bill said happily. "How are my favorite mercenaries doing?"

"Don't think you could've though of anything less corny, eh?" Came Falco's voice from behind him. He approached them calmly, successfully keeping from bringing attention to himself. "I mean, honestly, you sound like a producer of some lame ass band or something." He stood to his right, arms folded. "To think you were hired to aid us, you're acting more immature than normal."

"Who, me? No way, right Fox?"

"Well...," Fox began, "you have been acting a little more obnoxious lately. I mean, I knew you wanted to unwind from all the strict military stuff, but you did go a little too far."

"How so?" He asked, a little like a confused child, unaware of their blight and misdeed.

"Dude, how many people do you know put on extra small speedos to surprise someone?!" Falco protested. A few people at adjacent tables noticed the conversation a bit. Now knowing that it was Falco, they whispered within a close apace.

"Well, I'll admit, that might've been a bit uncalled for. But hey, I was just trying to get a good reaction out of you."

"Yeah, like how you dumped half a coffee down Fox's pants." Krystal brought up the other bit of childish behavior on Bill's behalf.

"Now, wait a sec. You gotta admit, that was pretty good." He laughed a bit. When no one returned the gesture of goodhearted expression, he stopped. "Well, we could put all this behind us, couldn't we?"

"Yeah, I guess we could." Fox said willingly. Krystal suddenly had the feeling that this was exactly what he wanted to happen.

"Well then. All's good, so I'm gonna go." He turned and walked away.

Surely enough, Fox's plan unfolded right then and there with what was illustrated on the back of Bill's pants. Across his rear was a bulls eye point, along the left leg was, 'Come and get it, boys', and along the right leg was Bill's cell number. It didn't take long for Falco to take this into a rational bit of laughter, and not his normal uproarious guffaw. Krystal didn't seem to disapprove of this, chuckling a bit under her breath. Slippy apparently didn't noticed on account of him continuously stuffing his face. Peppy, as usual, gave Fox a piercing gaze as a sign of disapproval of this juvenile act.

"Really, Fox?" He said in that father like tone, but with a bit of childlike sarcasm thrown in.

"Well, he brought down the thunder. And besides, aren't we supposed to be relaxing and having fun?" His sentence was affected a bit by his recurring laughter, mostly kept under control

"While it may be true to some extent," Peppy began, "our primary objective is to make sure Rebecca is kept safe. She's more important than your run-of-the-mill celebrity."

"Yeah," Falco interjected, "but when was the last time we got a chance to just relax and do whatever we felt like?"

"That's true. Just don't derive from the reason we're here."

"Please, when has that ever happened?" Falco said a bit too cocky.

"At least a dozen times, I'd count." Peppy replied. He wasn't straining his voice, but he answered Falco's question with a proud sense that he, yet again, thwarted his smart ass attitude and broke him down into a person found with nothing of immediate value within themselves, and can only end the conversation. And so he did.

"Anyway, I'm gonna get a few things out of the way." He turned and walked to the door. He did his best to not bring any attention to himself, putting a hood over his head to hide his identity. Surprisingly, it worked.

"Does anyone know where Katt is?" Krystal finally found a chance for the question. "I haven't seen her since yesterday."

"Don't know," Fox replied, "maybe out on the beach or something. I mean, who would miss that sun?" He gestured to a window that showed a perfect view of the beach, which was complimented by Solar's glow.

"Yeah… I think I might catch some sun myself. Care to join me, Fox?" She grinned as she got up and motioned to the door. Fox sat for a moment, and Krystal sensed he was mulling over what she had just said to him. She chuckled, and grabbed his hand to pull him up. He snapped back to reality and followed Krystal.

"Those two." Peppy said, a little amused. "At least they got their mind set. You've just been brooding over that card and working on that blaster."

"Two things…" He said through a full mouth. He swallowed, then continued. "One: I've only now been able to find time to construct new weaponry, and two: …I really don't know why, but there's-"

"Something about the card. You've been saying that the entire time you've had it. Look, if it seems that important, ask the attendant at the front desk about it."

Slippy remained silent, taking in what the hare said. He had tried before, but maybe some assistance would be at hand this time. He decided to check that day. He wanted to be rid of this feeling, one of wonder and pity and the same time. Once finished with food, he stood up and walked to the door, like so many had before him today. Peppy remained seated, eyes deep in the newspaper.

* * *

The clock read 2:42. Falco sat on his bed while he went through the rest of his belongings he had neglected to remove from his bag. His hands crossed over the small amount of possessions he packed; just a few pair of clothes, a few hygienic necessities that the hotel didn't provide, his black shades and a couple other things. He would've gone through this before, but he didn't have the resolve to actually carry out the menial task until then.

He felt a small picture at the bottom of the bag, something he didn't expect to find in there. Then again, it had been a while since he used the bag, so it was entirely possible that he just forgot it in there.

He pulled out the 2x3-inch photo of him and Katt. It was taken after Andross' first demise, when he broke away from Star Fox and was teamed with Katt. They were on Aquas, vacationing after they took down a rouge pirate group that had sprung up at the time. They were lying in the sand under an umbrella on the beach. Falco had on a pair of dark red swim trunks, and Katt wore a scarlet red bikini. It was obvious that Falco had taken the picture by holding the camera backwards and pointing it at them, due his arm stretching along the edge and out of the shot.

He reminisced on the times they used to spend, care free and happy. It made the reason for their break up seem trivial by comparison. But the damage was done, and Falco had to live with it.

"_I might've been a bit harsh to Katt earlier."_ He reasoned. His still hurt emotions might've been the whole reason for flipping out back in the hall the day before. He never was best with his feelings, which was why he mostly kept them at minimal use. _"I should go apologize." _

After sorting through the rest of his belongings and putting the picture in his pocket, he got and walked out the door.

After the door slid shut, a cracking could be heard in the room. At least, a cracking would have been heard had there been anyone there. In the bathroom, a small crack formed on the mirror. Soon, it grew and grew, forming letters reaching from edge to edge. Once it ceased, a single name could be seen.

_KATT_

* * *

3:00 was coming by quicker than Katt expected. She was so excited that the hours just flew by without her knowledge. She didn't change into anything special and didn't do anything really formal besides straightening up her fur. In fact, she didn't really understand why she was acting like that, treating this little situation as though it were overly important, but with only emotions.

But little attention did she pay to her out of character persona and inner sentiments. Her focus was on trying to look better than she had earlier. Doing something like this for a date, at least to her, was more important than fretting about such when going with Falco. It was more casual when with him, and much more about impression when going with someone new.

She felt Shayne held some promise for her, some solution out of being alone, at least in the sense of being without a soul mate.

She was content in choosing her outfit: a dark pink tank top and a pair of worn out jeans. Then, while looking at herself in the mirror, a knock was heard on the door.

"_Did Shayne wanna meet me here?" _She thought while walking over to the door with a small sense of confusion. She opened the door, and once it slid to the side, the ever-so-familiar bulk known as Falco stood there. "Yeah?" She asked, not too happy with his sudden appearance.

Falco looked down for a second, his hand massaging the back of his neck. Katt knew all too well that his neck wasn't sore, and that he was having a hard time bringing himself to saying whatever pathetic speech he had saved. He cleared his throat and looked at her. He stared into her eyes, an annoyed gleam shining in the center that only he could pick out. _"I love that look she gives me."_

"Listen Falco," she leaned to the side, hand on her hip to project something like authority, "I've got somewhere to be in, like, five minutes. So, can we hurry this up?"

"…Um…" He only managed the small utterance at first. Then he cleared his throat and looked straight at her. "Katt...I just wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier." He stated sincerely. "I got carried away. I hope you can forgive me."

Katt straightened herself so that she was no longer leaning on the doorframe. She was a little surprised to hear Falco speak in such a way, to put his selfish pride aside to reveal the inner soft side that was more accustomed to compassion rather than macho.

"Of course I do, Falco." She, too, was sincere in her reply. "But…we broke up, and that's gonna stick with me for a bit. There's always going to be a place in my heart for you. But…I guess love just wasn't meant for us."

"…We're still friends, right?" Falco asked.

"Of course." She embraced the avian. They remained in the hug for what seemed like hours, enjoying every moment. In reality, it only lasted five seconds. "I hope it can stay like that."

"Yeah…" Falco smiled. "You said you had somewhere to be?"

"Yeah." She released Falco, stepped out from the doorframe, closed the door, and locked it. "Bye." She walked off down the hallway, the opposite direction in which Falco had came.

However, he just remained in the same spot, watching as his former love walked away to what possibly was her ticket out of being lonely. It only reminded him of the grief he gave her, and now he was stuck there. After she was out of his sight, he turned back to the direction of his room.

A single tear ran down his cheek.

* * *

Shayne sat at the table, two coffees in front of him. His favorite sat to the left, which happened to be a caramel cappuccino. To the right of that was a white chocolate mocha, which was the one he picked out for Katt.

A shade of pink appeared in the corner of his vision. He looked up to find his 'date', so to speak.

"Right on time." Shayne said brightly. "I took the liberty of ordering a drink for you already."

"Oh." The feline was a bit surprised to see that. She was handed her drink, and upon taking one sip, she was surprised to know that he had gotten her favorite for her. "That's funny."

"What's that?" Shayne asked.

"You just so happened to have ordered my favorite."

"Well, I made quite the lucky guess, didn't I? Now I feel complete…for the next few minutes."

Katt sat down on the opposite end of the small table. "Well, how can I keep you feeling like that, huh?" She asked a bit playfully.

"Well, I wouldn't mind getting to know you better." He smiled and looked at her, looking both eager to listen and patient enough to wait at the same time. Katt complied, letting the black fox know of everything that he could want to know. She really only told him of details he asked for, not wanting to bore him or give him any information that could later come back to haunt her.

And all the while Shayne listened in. He could tell she was in dire need of someone who listen to what she had to say, even if it was at whim. A women scorned is a sad thing if no one is there to comfort her. At least, that's how Shayne saw it.

After a few minutes of discussion, a beeping came from Shayne's left pocket. Katt momentarily ceased her talking while Shayne took out a phone, the obvious source of the beeping.

He flipped it open and answered the call.

"Yeah?" He answered. There was pause as the person on the other end spoke. "I know. I'm just taking a little time off." Another pause. "A day, man! It can wait for now." Another pause, this time much longer than the last two. "Okay. Don't give me a damn lecture. I'll look into it tonight. Bye." He flipped the phone shut, thus ending the call.

"Who was that?" Katt asked.

"…A friend. Reminded me of something I have to…check into." He slid the phone into his pocket His concentration was now on Katt again. "You may continue, if you wish."

* * *

The sunset was halfway through, a shade of dark orange along the majority of visible sky. Krystal made her way back to her room with Fox following close behind. They had spent most of the day out on the beach, doing whatever they felt like doing. Most of the time, though, they were in somewhat of a volleyball tournament. All the matches went smoothly, even though all of the pairs they went against were die hard fans. But instead of autographs, they instead wanted proof that they played against the two, which led to a few photos that were taken during the many matches.

Now that they were back inside, they felt the fatigue that was masked from before. They looked forward to a good night's rest, but not so much as the possible soreness they might have to endure the net day.

"Well, I'm gonna head to my room. Night." He bid Krystal farewell.

"Night." She called back as the door slid shut.

Fox walked only a few steps to his room, which was right next to Krystal's. He almost pressed the button to open it, but a small noise to his right made his ears perk up. It sounded like blaster fire. He looked in the direction of the noise, but nothing immediately was caught in his gaze. He assumed it was farther down the hall, and if it were blaster fire, the distance would've muffled the noise, thus confirming his assumption. He slowly walked toward it, eventually making it to a small room. What was significant about the room was that he heard another blaster shot right behind it.

He prepared himself for a potential shot at his body, and gradually brought his hand up to the pad. His finger touched it, and the door slid open, bringing into view a dark room. The figure inside spun around and brought his weapon up, a blaster that had a glowing green light along the edge.

Within a second of being revealed to Fox's still adjusting eyes, it fired, unleashing a green flash.

* * *

_So, there you go. Fox's prank was revealed, and I think you might be able to guess who fired at Fox...Maybe. Again, sorry for the late wait._

_Onto the reviews!_

Evilhumor Author:

A haunted hotel? Well if i were in there, i would get the fck out of there as fast i can! but throwing the gang in there? hmm, you have a lot of evil potenital... i shall keep my eyes on your work

_That's the whole feeling I'm trying to get. Yes, I do. It has shown in all of my work. Haha! Thanks, I love attention._

starfoxluver:

AWESOME CHAPPIE! If u want u could make me as like sum sort of special appearance or sumthing! :P

_I was thinking of doing something like that. Remember my ideas. I might throw them at you again. Keep attentive!_

bailey11095503:

That chapter was a little slow, but you warned us so im not complaining. The mysterious voice thing was awesome, and i dont watch scary moveis either. Except for Scary Movie, which isnt even a real scary movie. Anyway, great chapter and keep it up!

_Yeah...I did. Can't do too much too soon. Thank you, I meant for creepy and such. And Scary Movie is awesome, despite it not being scary at all. And don't worry, I won't let you down! Shadow away! ...Wait, more reviews._

SerpentPanda:

Yay, long review time. (Peanut butter criticism time? I always do this, x_x)

Generally, this story is a good read, and you're doing wonderfully with it. As a whole, the plot seems very unique, which is one main resonance factor to a story, as it seems that original plots are lacking in this section. Your writing style is good; not perfect, but still good.

There are quite a few grammatical errors and even less spelling errors. Nothing that a quick edit over won't fix. Although some things with quotations stood out for me, like...

I'm not as good at hand-to-hand combat, Falco." She said worriedly. "I just wanted you around just in case they find me again."

Instead of a period, there should be a comma after the first sentence, and the She following it shouldn't be capitalized because She said worriedly isn't an individual sentence. This seemed to be repetitive throughout the story.

"Maybe you're right, Falco, but that doesn't mean you have to be a jackass about it." Falco pushed his way past her, mumbling about getting a bite before breakfast was over. Kat sighed, thinking over what he said.

While the first sentence is spoken by Katt, the next sentence's subject is Falco. Which seems minor, but it's slightly confusing and changes up the mood.

Contentishly, the chapters of randomness actually helped. Jumping straight into a plot just seems weird, so the seemingly arbitrary filler actually ended up letting us know the characters more and actually feel emotionally connected to him. So that's a plus.

Descrtion-wise, you painted nice pictures. However, usually when it got to a point of dialogue, the description seemed to slip up.

Some of the minor things: I loled so much at Bill embarrassing Fox, as well as the whole gay-guide thing (the Speedo-fiasco was a bit overkill, but it was hilarity when he winked at Fox).

tl;dr: Despite the criticisms, your story was really good. Be sure to reread chapters for grammatical mistakes, but other than that, you're writing solid, and the other things to better your writing will come naturally and over time. This was definitely one my better reads in the SF section lately; good writing plus interesting and original plot equals wintastic.

-stalks-

_Holy shit, long review. Anyway, I made sure to look over this. If you spot anything, please tell me. It might be because I missed it or I'm just not that good at proofreading. But one thing, if I continue writing the dialogue like that...Well, I'm just stuck on writing it like that. I'll get better, I promise. Oh, and I also think that the whole...speedo thing could have been pulled out. But it's in there, so I'll just work around it. Thanks, dude! You're the first one to tell me where I need to do some work in such detail! I feel honored you'd even take the time. Thank you._

starfighter-105:

I like the suspence in this story. I also like immature jokes those are usualy the best jokes. I look forward to reading the rest when I get back. Take care and thanks for the support.

_I'm glad I was able to satisfy you. And I find immature jokes to be funny too. I just hoping you're reading this when I update this. Take care dude, and don't let us down either!_

KrzyKrn K.:

Lol...no, the singing name thingy isn't bothering me at all. Don't worry about it.  
And good chapter, with the whole portraying of Katt and her emotional break-down...err...thingy.

Well, all I have to say is...

BE READY FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER OF KRISIS!

Best Wishes,  
Krys

_I'm glad it doesn't make you go fetal position on us. The breakdown will be explained later, and of course everything else. And about Krisis...I'm gonna have to find a time to catch up. I've only read the first chapter...I'm sorry. And Best Wishes to you, sir._

Timid Vulpine:

Hi hi.

I slipped and landed on my butt on the way home from school today, so if my brain is scrambled, very sorry.

Liking the way you got Theya into the story... maybe you could do that again. How are you gonna get Fay and Miyu and me in there? How soon? Please?

Anyway, how steady will Katt and Shayne's relationship be? And how long will it last? What about poor Falco? Is he gonna get someone? ARGH! SO MANY QUESTIONS!

Oh well, loving it anyway. Keep it up!

Bye byes,

Timid.

_I'm sorry about your little fall...Even though it happened, like, a month a ago. I'm try and Theya in here again. Fay and Miyu...I might have to think that one through. You, however, I have a good idea. Just one question, have you heard "Nine in the Afternoon" by Panic at the Disco? Please tell me when you review. As for Katt, Shayne, and Falco...Well, that will be answered later. I'm glad you love it, Timid. Bye byes to you too._

HaloEvangelion03:

another nice chapter

although, I'm concerned about one thing, your OC. Dressed in black and nothing but black is one of the marks of a Gary Stu, and a Gary Stu (or Mary Sue) can ruin an entire story. You could probably put or OC through one of those Mary Sue Litmus Tests to see how Gary Stu-ish he is, I got a link to an Ok one in my profile, but you could also Google one.

_Well, sir, I tried the test, and I'm pretty the results meant that he wasn't. If it turns out that way...Tough. People still think the story's good. We'll see how it goes, eh? Good._

Metal Guitarist 101:

(in nasely vioce) I have one thing to say to you... duadinum.  
Nice chapter. it seemed kinda slow at first, but it started to pick up really quickly. I need to know one thing though. Was it Damien who uhh... that one little girl who scratched the "214" phrase?

Well keep it up Daniel- i mean shaadoww!

_If anyone else is reading this, remember that I know this guy in real life. Well, dude, your guess might be right or wrong. We'll see. See ya, Cody- I mean Metal!_

Zaix-fukutaicho:

1: lol Awesome!! XD Seems like the gang hasn't changed a bit.

2: Cool! ^_^ I'll continue reading this!

_I put both of your reviews here, designated by the numbers. I'm glad (for the millionth time) that my writing fits your standards. And yes, continue reading please!_

Fox Fighter 220:

wow this is a great story I like that its not like other fanfics I've read with non stop action all the way through though I hope there is some action lol I wonder what fox did to bill with that sharpie I know its gonna be hillarious... PIZZA!  
well that's all I got

have a nice day or nice night or whatever time your reading this peace out!

P.S. I can't log in on my phone but check out my profile it has the same name as this guy

_Well, I don't like getting into things too soon unless absolutely needed. Well, your question has been answered...Writing on his pants. YOGURT! Good day or night to you too sir._

_There you have it. Hope I can get the next chapter up earlier this time. And to all of you..._

_**DON"T STOP BEING PRODIGIOUS!!**  
_


	8. To Hunt Or Be Hunted

_Well, I got this up much sooner, didn't I? Hope it wasn't too much of a wait for you. Although, I didn't quite like the content in here, but it was the only thing I could roll with. _

_I have a forum that needs support, people. Two topics so far. One concerns the downfall of flamers, and the other is how my fics could be improved, what you might like to see in it, or whatever about my fics._

_And also, do not read the story by TheBestThereIsOnThisSite. He stole a direct chapter from KrzyKrn K.'s fic 'Krisis' and claimed it as his own. he didn't change anything, merely a copy and paste move. Do what you can to get rid of him!_

_And again, I wish you all would read and review the two stories by bailey11095503. He needs some support, 'cause I'm the only reviewer he has._

_Plus, I might be starting to hunt ghosts as a hobby. I caught what could be an EVP at my friend's house. Plus, the other night, we set up a test. We told whoever was there to make these two paper clips touch each other...They did. It was AWESOME!!! Anyway, I have two other places in mind to hunt. Wish me luck, guys!  
_

_Anyway, enjoy!_

_

* * *

_

Chapter 8

To Hunt Or Be Hunted

The shot missed Fox by mere inches as he jumped to his right. It hit the wall behind him, making a large green flash. It illuminated most of the hall apart from what was already lit. The figure that stood in the room was quick to dash out into the hall. It looked at Fox, and Fox looked back.

Now in a lighted environment, Fox was able to able to identify it as the black fox he had met earlier. He had two blasters drawn, the kind of which he had never seen.

"Oh," the stranger said, "it's just you. Sorry about that." He put the blasters in the holsters on either side of the inside of his trench coat. "I thought you were someone else."

Fox straightened up, but was still full of questions, one more pressing than others.

"What the hell were you doing?" He asked. "Why would you be firing off a blaster in a place like this?"

"That, my friend, is something very personal." He answered. It seemed very suspicious to Fox.

"Oh, really?" Fox replied. "How personal?"

"Personal enough that you should keep out of it." The black vulpine answered yet again. "It doesn't concern you."

"It does when whatever you were doing almost shot my head off."

The two stared at each other, not exchanging a word. Only glances were given; Fox's anger driven one, and the black fox's that had little to no emotion within.

"I'm sorry," the fox began again, "but my business is my business. It looks like you've had a long day, Fox, so why don't you catch a few Z's?"

Fox stared at the black vulpine for a few more seconds, before turning back to his room down the hall.

"And by the way," the fox said to him, "the name's Shayne."

_"Great info."_ Fox thought. _"Almost take my head off and introduce yourself." _He made it back his room, looking forward to a good night's rest. He was about to slide the card in to unlock the door, but found it already unlocked. "I didn't leave the room unlocked the whole time, did I?" Even if he didn't, that was the first conclusion he made. If he indeed left it unlocked, he had make sure that he wasn't a victim of theft

He ran inside to find nothing out of place, everything in the same spot he left it that morning. He sighed with relief, and prepared for his well-deserved rest.

But as he was about to remove the swim trunks he wore, he heard breathing behind him. He stood frozen as he listened to the nearly silent sound. The sound of inhaling, then a pause, and followed by exhaling; the pattern was bone chilling, considering the moment.

He turned around and saw a small girl, a vulpine with gray fur and gray eyes. She was dressed in a red nightgown, one that only reached to her knees.

"How'd you get in here?" Fox asked. When the girl didn't answer, he crouched down so he was level with her. "Are you lost?" Still no answer, but a smile slowly formed on her face, along with a small chuckle. "What's so funny?" Fox said, smiling and laughing a bit himself just to play along.

His laughter was cut short when a small flash emanated around the girl. He felt himself lose feeling all over. He fell over and hit his head on the nightstand. Sprawled on the ground, he saw the sharpie fall in front of his face. He fell unconscious at that moment.

* * *

Shayne walked by Fox's room on the way to his own. He made an abrupt stop a foot past the door. He sensed a presence that shouldn't have been there, and it was coming from Fox's room. He turned to find the door unlocked. He swiftly ran up to it and opened it.

Inside, nothing out of the ordinary could be seen. The only thing that stood out was that a black sharpie was on the floor in front of the nightstand and that Fox was no where to be seen. The shower wasn't running, and the balcony and bathroom doors weren't locked.

"But I thought he went in here…" He scanned the room once more, taking in all the view he could. When nothing came up, he closed his eyes. Upon opening, they glowed, making his normal eye color turn to neon green.

There, in the middle of the floor to the side of the bed was proof of a supernatural presence. While the room had a green tinge to it because of his vision, the area he saw was a purple color where the supernatural abilities were sure to have been initiated.

"Shit." He ran out the door and ran in the direction he had planned earlier. He saw a very faint trail of energy, and that was his lead. Before he knew it, he had progressed through half of the first floor. He didn't falter in his search until he heard a voice.

"Hey, Shayne." A female voice came from an open door. He turned to see Katt standing in the doorframe of her room. "Where ya headed?"

"Listen Katt," he stopped for a moment, "I can't talk right now. Maybe later." He turned back, only to find the trail gone. He had taken too long to notice it, and now it vanished. His lead to finding Fox and possibly preventing harm disappeared with the lead.

When Shayne spun back to face Katt, she was right in front of him.

"Did you want to ask me something?" He asked her.

"I sure do. Come in." She opened the door to her room and welcomed Shayne in. The inside was a dark pink color.

"Ironic room color, don't you think?" Shayne joked.

"Well, I like it." She smiled. "Have a seat on the bed."

Shayne did as she said after removing his coat and setting it by him. Katt took a seat next to him. She was now serious.

"Shayne, I need to ask…" Her voice was growing a bit frail, and had a look of deep inquiry. "I understand if you can't answer this, but you are the only one who might be able to."

"Is it about the other night?" Shayne guessed.

"Yeah. Since you were the one who found me on the floor that night…" Her voice trailed off a bit. She tried not to be a paranoid bunch about it, but she couldn't come up with anything to say that wouldn't make her sound exactly as such. "…Did you…see anything when you found me?"

"See anything?" Shayne asked in return. "Like what?"

"…A little girl in a nightgown." She answered. "A little white fox."

Shayne was silent for a moment. He tried to ponder what she had said. He had not seen anything of the sort that night, but…

* * *

_Shayne saw the trail of energy. It was twisting and turning throughout the hotel, with no end after ten minutes of following. It gradually got stronger as he went along its path. _

_It soon got difficult to track it, because the walls themselves were marked with energy. The whole hotel had been merged with whatever was utilizing this power._

_He at last found the destination for the energy trail. It led to Room 215. A large concentration of it was on the inside of the room. He looked over and saw that the door was open. He put his palm on the outside of the card slot. _

_A small surge of green electromagnetic energy came out of his palm. The pad flashed on and off for a few seconds before signaling the door being unlocked._

_It slid open slowly. Shayne walked in and saw the abundance of energy in the room. It obscured most of his view of the room. He couldn't even identify if someone occupied the room. All he could tell was that most of the energy was centered on the bed and, if anyone was indeed sleeping in there, the resident._

_He brought out his blaster and aimed at the center of the mass. He shot, and the mass squirmed a bit. He shot multiple times, causing it to move around a bit. However, it didn't seem to cause any damage._

_Part of the mass shot out and launched Shayne against the wall. It held him against the wall, trying to crush him. He brought the second blaster. He switched the firing speed output on both, and aimed at the tendril. A large stream of fire exited both blasters, making it squirm even more. _

_It brought him back, and threw him out the door. Shayne planted his feet against the wall he made contact with. He got into position, and launched himself back into the room. _

_Before he could make it, however, it slid shut. He quickly shifted in midair, and launched himself off the door. He flipped backward, and landed firmly on the ground. _

_The door was locked once more. He attempted to open it by putting his palm up against it. No reaction showed that the door was not going to open._

_"Damn it." He said. He thought of how he could get back in. He had not seen any vents in the hotel, so that route wasn't possible. It would take too long to scale the outside wall to reach the room. All ideas were shot down, all excluding the one involving damage of the property._

_He could always bust his way into the room._

_He switched the setting of the blasters and combined them together into one. He set it to a wide range attack to provide him with a large hole in the wall. He charged up the shot, making sure to be successful._

_He suddenly stopped when he heard a scream coming from a hallway near where he was. He separated the two blasters and put them back in the holsters on the inside of his coat._

_He ran in the direction of the scream. Anticipating strange activity taking place, he activated his other vision. Sure enough, a large trail of supernatural energy led to the hallway, signifying large activity. Judging by the level, it meant full body apparition._

_He reached the hallway. He saw the small girl standing in front of a pink feline. Her level of power was unbelievable. She held power unlike anything that Shayne had ever seen. He aimed a blaster at her, charging up a blast. _

_The girl faded away into nothing. All traces of her presence then and before were gone. The hallway was purged of all energy traces. When he switched to his normal vision, he saw the pink feline lying on the ground. _

* * *

After that, Shayne had brought Katt back to his room. He remembered everything. Although he saw the girl, he didn't want to worry Katt.

"No, I didn't." He answered her question. "I only saw you lying there."

"Oh…" Katt's ears dropped a bit. She sighed, and then glanced over at the clock. It read 10:37.

Shayne yawned without even noticing the time. The time he spent earlier was catching up to him.

"You should stay here," suggested Katt, "you sound too tired to walk back to your room."

"Please? I insist." Katt asked.

Shayne didn't wanna disappoint Katt, and in truth, didn't want to walk back to his room like Katt said. So, he decided to comply with Katt's whim.

"Okay, I'll stay." He grabbed his coat and walked over to the couch. He lay down and shifted to his desired comfort level.

"You know, Shayne," she started after he covered himself with his coat and kicked off his shoes, "you could sleep up here with-"

She was cut off by a small snore coming from her black furred guest. She smiled a bit and turned off the lights

But instead of getting in her bed, she walked over and, using the remaining room on the couch, curled up next to Shayne. His body heat made her relax immensely. She felt secure next to him. Within, seconds, she was asleep.

* * *

_"He is ours now."_ The voice echoed through Krystal's head like it was said in a large temple.

_"What of the others?"_ Came the inquiry of another.

_"Forget them!"_ Shouted the first. _"All we need is him."_

_"But there is someone hunting us. A black fox."_

_"No worries. I think we can keep him busy."_

_"And the girl?"_

_"What of her?"_

Krystal was suddenly standing a few feet away from a small group huddled in the center of a dark room. Candles in the middle illuminated a lone figure laid in the center. They were lit with blue flames. The figures in the group were shadowy regardless of the candles.

_"She seems to have a strong connection with him. She could be a threat."_

_"I will make sure that she doesn't hinder our plans."_

The group spread out to allow a large surge of flame from each of the candles. This illuminated the room enough to reveal the person lying in the center.

"Fox!" Krystal yelled.

"The group noticed Krystal standing there. They rushed her in an attempt of capture, but a sudden surge of energy made them stop. A dome like wave came from Krystal and launched the figures back into the walls.

Krystal couldn't believe her eyes, and wondered if she had unleashed the attack. Her thoughts were cut short when Fox began disappearing in an inferno of black flames.

"Fox!"

* * *

Krystal sat up in her bed. Like the night before, she was sweating, panting, and terror stricken. Unlike what happened earlier, the dream was more realistic. She actually felt the rush of air from the energy wave, the heat from the candles, and the cold floor of the room she was in.

But more importantly, she didn't understand why she saw Fox there. She had never had a dream involving him in what could be mortal danger.

The keyword was 'dream', even if it felt real. She knew nothing like what she imagined could really transpire. Her heavy head became increasingly difficult to keep up, and her eyelids were like large bags of sand. Casting all negative thoughts of what the dream meant, she fell asleep.

* * *

Slippy walked to the front desk with the card in hand. Finally, he would at least be able to return it without anything wrong coming about. Or at least he thought, until he saw the 'Be back soon' sign on the desk.

"Well," Peppy said, even though he cared little about the card, "that's unfortunate. Can't get a break, can ya Slip?"

"Guess not." He admitted, a bit downhearted.

Only when the turned to leave did they hear someone at the desk.

"He's not answering…Why put his number there and not wanna answer his calls?"

The voice sounded familiar, but who said it was still a mystery. They turned back to find the raccoon guide from before putting a cell phone in his pocket. He noticed Slippy and Peppy a second later.

"Oh, it's you two!" He straightened up his clothes a bit. "Can I help you?"

"Yes." Slippy stepped up and handed him the card. "I found this in my room, and thought it might belong to someone else in the hotel."

"Hmm…I don't see why someone would do that. Each room has its specific card to unlock it."

"Someone could have left it in there by accident." Peppy cut in.

"That is true." The raccoon answered. "Completely reasonable."

"Yeah," Slippy resumed his inquiry, "but what's weird is that it was in the bed frame. Only when it fell out did I find."

"The bed frame? That's odd." He went over to the computer and pulled up the room listings. He scrolled down to find the room listed on the card. Even though there was only a 2 in the hundreds digits revealed, it was enough to look through. After looking through all the rooms, it appeared that all the rooms had been occupied. "Weird. Thanks for returning this."

"No problem." Slippy smiled. The two turned and walked off.

The raccoon paged the owner of the hotel. He arrived five minutes after being signaled. Rick McClintock, a middle aged black horse, walked up behind the desk.

"Yes, Randy?" He asked. He sounded like he had a long day and longed for bed.

"Mr. McClintock, this card isn't registered in the database."

"What? That can't be right. Let me see."

Randy handed him the card, and Rick inspected the number. It was still scratched out, not leaving much of an identity. As it were, Rick saw noticed something about the card that Randy did not, and his eyes widened when he did. He quickly stuck it in his pocket and began to walk back to his office.

"I'll take care of this Randy." He was off without another word.

"Okay." Randy couldn't quite understand why his boss reacted in such a way. But he seemed much more interested in trying the number again.

* * *

"I thought this whole thing could've been averted." Rick sat at his desk. On it sat the card. It seemed to mock him with its return. "I thought hiding it would've worked. Throwing it away didn't, so why wouldn't this?"

The card held some meaning that even Rick didn't know all of. He knew of what would happen when it was in possession of anyone. He also knew it was connected to the hotel somehow.

"I won't let this happen again." He grabbed the card and broke it in half, then again. It was now in four separate pieces. He then threw it out the nearby window. "There. It's over."

He sat back in his desk, and continued to look through what he had been before Randy paged him.

* * *

Falco was on the roof, looking over the lake. In the distance, he could see the edge of Corneria City. The lights were an impressive sight, but were better seen from a closer distance.

"Clear night out, eh?" Bill walked up beside him, only staring outward in the same direction Falco was.

"Yeah." Falco replied, a but quietly.

"I'd think you'd be out here with Katt. What happened between you two?" The canine asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it. I made a mistake, and I have to deal with it."

"Alright."

They were silent for a minute or two. The view was somewhat hypnotic, keeping their attention. But why Falco was really quiet for was that he was brooding over him and Katt. He wondered how things could have gone differently. With all the things they went though, all the things they did, all the arguments they survived through, it would have seemed that they were meant for each other.

But fate had another plan.

"Say Falco," Bill broke the silence, "have you been noticing anything weird going on in the hotel?"

"What do you mean?" Falco asked in response.

"Like, thinking you're being watched, things moving in the corner of your eye, hearing things. Stuff like that."

Falco wasn't sure why Bill would ask such a thing. However, the hotel did have an odd feeling to it. He wouldn't describe it like Bill did, but something did feel odd.

"Never mind. Must be my imagination." Bill turned to the door leading downstairs. "See ya, Falco." He then heard his phone ringing and pulled it out of his pocket. "Damn it. Who keeps calling me? I don't even know this number."

Bill's question stewed over in Falco's mind. He remembered Krystal's little scene back when they first entered the hotel, when she stood still for a few seconds. It was abnormal for her to act like that, and Falco knew she couldn't have just frozen up to a new experience. She was so used to Corneria by now that nothing could really surprise her.

Falco began to get drowsy. He turned to the door and walked downstairs.

A lone figure stood on the roof after Falco left. The moonlight showed a black furred wolf, grimacing at what he just heard.

"They're noticing." His frown turned into a smile. "No matter. They don't concern me."

He disappeared.

"This is becoming more of a nuisance than previously thought."

* * *

_Mysterious, ain't it? We see the return of the girl, and all that. And Krystal has another dream. Interesting...Not stupid! And, of course, I had to add the thing where Randy called Bill...Yes, his name is Randy. And the owner will play a part later._

_You may be wondering, what happened to Rebecca? I'll take care of that._

_Onto the reviews!_

ShadowFox0324:

Just when I think I'm out...THEY KEEP PULLING ME BACK IN!

ROFL. Man this shit is gettin supernatural. I'm gettin creeped out. When you typed in the wall scratched in Katt (or something like that)I was like "Oh sh*t! WHAT THE F*CK WAS THAT!?!?!

Man...Anyway hope you and Timid had a good Friday the 14th and hope you have a damn good Valentine's Day. L8r.

PS: I'm gettin ready 2 start my own Q&A thing soon. Mind checkin it out once it's up? Thnx man. Deuces

_I know, man. That's the kind of thing that would give me the creeps too. Sadly, Timid remains out of contact. She doesn't allow Pms, but I'll try and talk her into it. Or at least give me her email address. And I'll gladly read your Q&A. Do you have it up yet? I got lots o' Q's man, and you must supply the A's. Hehe. I chuckle at my insanity._

starfighter-105:

Well I'm home for now. Very funny joke man. Lock on to the asshole. lol. But seriously This story gets better and beter. Thanks for the mention and the support.

_Yeah. Guess who got a lock on? Hehe. Thank you for telling me this, I'd agree with the progress. And no problem._

Fox Fighter 220:

I can sign in on my phone now! YAY! anyways my randomness is due to me being the du du du du dudu class clown! anyways good chapter lol I wonder who'll call Bill (maybe you could put someone calling Bill on the next chapter) anyways guess what if you try to find a monkey in the forrest you won't it'll find you! PICKLES!  
well that's all I got

good night or good morning or good hanukqh or good whatever it is to you DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS! welp by

P.S. watch out or I'll send my OC to steal tou Zanpaktou! lol

_Yay! ...Random cheering, hehe. This chapter answered your question, didn't it? As long as you followed it, anyway. And no, I'll find it and RIP IT'S TONGUE OUT, AND- Sorry, lost it there. But, if that monkey was TheBestThereIsOnThisSite, then yeah. WASABI! ...My Zanpakuto...Get away!_

James R. O'Neill:

1. Why'd you make Krystal such a goon? I don't think I'd do something like that! I respect her too much!

2. Have you by chance played any Kingdom Hearts games lately? The description of the "Guys in Black" are reminiscent of Organization XI.

_1. Well, it's the whole thing where girls meet their favorite artist/actor/actress. Ya know. I mean, I'd be beside myself if I could meet Metallica._

_2. Not KH2, but I have before. I love that game. I guess you could say, but just that ever since that game, black and trench coats have been very awesome to me. But...The guys in black mean dark and shrouded, not clothed in black. Only Shayne somewhat resembles someone from Organization XIII._

_I like how you're paying attention to detail. Keep it up!_

Velk:

hey, is it just me or is Hackkyou um cuss happy? anyway good story so far.

_Yes, he is. Very much so. Thank you. _

Krys (KrzyKrn K.):

Well I'm too lazy to log on at the moment so I'll just use this anonymous reviewer name so you can't figure out who I am...HAHAHA! Oh crap...I put my name in the reviewer name...DARN!

Well this chapter was the longest so far that you've written.

I haven't heard from you in a while so I was wondering what had happened to you...Is he dead? Lol

Well I checked up your profile and found out that you had another chapter of this out.

The plot is still good...cliff hanger with the broken mirror thingy scratching KATT out...yada yada yada the usual good commenting crap...

I couldn't find much spelling errors or grammatical errors but there was this ONE sentence where it didn't make much sense; this is near the ending paragraphs when Shayne is having his "date" with Katt:

(He could tell she was in dire need of someone who listen to what she had to say,)

So I think you forget to put "would" in between who and listen.

Ya thats about the only mistake that actually stood out to me.

Any other mistakes were small and minor and nothing to worry about.

Well there is my review for the night...

And guess what? Krisis is now officially part of the 100 club.

Ya...it has reached over 100 reviews...its at a whooping 129 reviews...YAY!

Just to let you know its okay if you only read the first chapter...I know its long...really really long. But I would appreciate it if you kind of skipped the middle chapters and went to the more...recent ones...It would be better to just read first to last but I do understand that time is short. Anyways the more recent chapters will not disappoint and I guarantee that.

Best Wishes,  
Krys

_Woo doggie, big review! No, I'm quite alive. Just big writer's block crap and all that noise. I'm glad my cliffhangers work. I see what you mean with the whole thing. I think I fixed it. Congrats! ...I wish I knew how it felt. Does that feeling taste like candy?! ...Beets? What? If I get time and crap, I will read through it. Like in Spring break or one of these weekends. I remember reading one of Kit Karamak's works last summer, and it took me about a week to finish. So yeah. All I got this spring is a SSBB tournament to go to._

_Best Wishes to you too, good sir._

When The Day Met The Night:

Oh! MAN! I feel awful for not reviewing, yet. I need to say: Great work shad! Meh... i need to upload something. Honestly! Who ever heard of a 24597582 month writers block? damn...

Well! I'm out!

~WTDMTN, who was previously FFA, PSC, EM, ELUN, and PA13... whatever you wanna call me.~

_Thank you! Wow...That long, eh? That be cracked up, man. You've had that many names? You should fill me in on the ones I don't remember. Everything before paranoidsocialclub._

_Hakkyou left a review that doesn't concern you mostly. The only thing I'll up here is that he said chapter seven was a success! And I thank him._

_That's all. Wish me luck for when I investigate those two places as an amateur ghost hunter. Yeah, go me! **Don't stop being prodigious, everyone!**  
_


	9. This Hotel Isn't Normal, Pt 1

_I don't care about bad grammar I missed in this, or any error really...I've been absent from writing for so long, and I've been kicking myself for it. Now, this chapter is kinda slow...Really slow, in fact. Fox's POV in Krystal's dream, then a bit of Shayne. Who doesn't like Shayne taking action? Just bear with it until I get better stuff up!  
_

**Thank you, my awesome reviewers: **ShadowFox0324, Fox Fighter 220, Hakkyou000, starfighter-105, Krizzfizz, Velk, Beautimus, ananommus, StarlightDragon1636, KrzyKrn K., VENOMDARK, and shakespeare's entourage.

_I'll be doing this instead of answering the reviews in the fic. Hope it's better for you guys. Enjoy!_

_

* * *

_

Chapter 9

This Hotel Isn't Normal

_Fox felt his head pounding. He was only able to open his eyes a bit, and it only allowed him a scene of confusion and terror._

_The little girl's eyes were scarlet red; her mouth was in a malicious grin that showed all of her teeth. They looked as sharp as daggers. Her hair was flowing, as if they were in a wind tunnel, but in slow motion._

_It appeared as though they were floating in the center of a tunnel of black fire. He could hear the crackle of the flames, and could feel the heat coming off of it. He even could sense a hint of smoke lingering in his nostrils. _

_The crackling of the flames, however, were whispers when compared with what he also picked up with his sense of hearing. Evil, maniacal laughter echoed through the chamber of black. It was a laugh of triumph, victory over another. But, in a way, it also sounded mocking. The two went hand-in-hand; making a sound that Fox could barely endure._

_In seconds, the scene changed to that of what appeared to be basement, the middle of which Fox was laying in. The only light available was that of the candles laid out in a circle around him. They glowed with blue flames._

_The laughter faded by now, replaced by whispers and murmurs coming from unknown figures standing around Fox. It filled him with anxiety, and the near silence accompanied with the wispy, breathy speech coming from the strange group was making it increasingly more nerve-wracking._

_The vulpine attempted to lift himself up off the ground, but found himself unable to move even his arm. The only mobility he had was enough to look around what little view of the room he had. _

_The whispering figures were cloaked, or rather covered in a veil of shadow that showed no indication of their identity. It gave them the appearance of an evil cult preparing for some dark deed, such as making a sacrifice for whatever demonic means. _

_Almost immediately, the whispering ceased. Another figure, one that wasn't there before, walked forward slowly from the outer darkness of the room. The veil of darkness that hid the appearance of the others surrounded this figure as well._

_"He is ours now."_ _The voice echoed through the room, and gave Fox a weird feeling._

_"What of the others?"_ _came the inquiry of another._

_"Forget them!"_ _shouted the first._ _"All we need is him."_

_"But there is someone hunting us. A black fox."_

_"No worries. I think we can keep him busy."_

_"And the girl?"_

_"What of her?"_

_Fox knew instantly that they were talking about Krystal. As to why, he had no idea. But he knew it wasn't good, based on his current situation; anyone who would drag him here against his will wouldn't mention someone close to him without some plan to get rid of them or keep them busy long enough to go along with one's agenda. _

_"She seems to have a strong connection with him. She could be a threat."_

_"I will make sure that she doesn't hinder our plans."_

_Now, Fox was certain that whatever they were talking about didn't bode well for him or Krystal. Or at least, that's how it sounded to him. Regardless, he had to take action. However, he found himself, once more, unable to move at all. He felt so useless and defenseless. Whoever they were, they weren't Fox's friends at all. _

_Suddenly, the vibe in the room changed, lifting a bit of the gloom. Fox glanced over and saw Krystal standing on the other side of the room, looking to him with fear in her eyes._

_"Fox!" she shouted. _

_The group turned to look at her, surprised that she made it there without detection. Fox looked to see what they planned to do, but his surroundings began to be swallowed by the same tunnel of black fire from before. This time, the girl was not present._

_Fox slowly started to lose consciousness yet again. As much as he wanted to stay awake and find out what was happening with Krystal, he couldn't help it. His eyelids shut and his mind drifted off, the smell of smoke again lingering in his nostrils._

_"This hotel isn't normal..."  
_

_­_

* * *

Though the curtains were drawn in Shayne's room, a small crack of light was still able to find its way in, right through the slit that the two pink shades provided. As the light grew from the ever rising sun, the line of light seemed to split the room in half, making a glimmering wall of sorts that separated the room into two. Not only did it shine across the room, but also along Shayne as he slept, right along his eyelid.

He awakened, irritated enough from the beam of light to be broken from sleep. His eyesight came slowly into focus as he reveled on how well he slept, which was quite well; the first good night's night he really had during his visit to the hotel thus far. His eyes panned down to his front, only to discover the sleeping form of Katt, closely nuzzled up to his chest.

_"No wonder I slept so well,"_ he thought. _"A little company never hurt. It's kinda cute when she's curled up like this."_

He brought his hand up and rubbed her ear. This provoked a low purr, and she rubbed her head into his palm while still managing to stay asleep. This made Shayne chuckle a bit, but quiet enough to keep his guest from waking. As best as he could, he lifted himself off the couch and over Katt.

_"I should repay her somehow", _he thought, _"since she was kind enough to let me stay here." _

He put on his boots and his coat before leaving the room, using the card to unlock the door. He felt a little guilty by departing prior to Katt waking up. He planned to make up for it, though, with whatever he came up with, for that day or the next.

The hallway was quiet, and this made Shayne figure that a good number of the residents were not awake quite yet. His assumption was confirmed upon looking at his watch, which read 6:47AM. It seemed to be an odd time, where the sunrise beckoned all those in its glow, but most chose not to answer.

Shayne felt he should grab a coffee and he rubbed the sand out of his eyes, or at least something to aid his recovery from the drowsiness of sleep. As he walked down the hallway, he found it devoid of any resident, which suited the silence. He past a few windows, each one making him squint his eyes; he was still adjusting to the light of day. As he progressed more near the front of the hotel, he could start to hear more activity; even though there were numerous people still asleep, the ones that were up and around probably found more to do up where Shayne headed.

As he past by another hallway, he glimpsed, in the corner of his eye, a group of people standing around something. Because they were so crowded in, Shayne could not see what was so intriguing, and this only made him more curious. The closer he got, the more the whispering could be heard, all of which could be riddled with sentences like, 'What happened to him?' and, 'Did he do this himself?' Shayne couldn't be sure what they were talking about until he managed a look through the crowd and to where they were casting their attention.

A body lay unconscious in the center, being inspected by hotel officials. They appeared to be trained with medical procedures, as they were inspecting for any possible clue to why the man passed out: dilated pupils, abnormal heartbeat, and things like that. Shayne didn't have too much medical knowledge, besides securing some wounds that one might endure in his care, so he didn't know what their speculation was exactly.

"Mr. McCloud seems fine," one of the officials said, "but does anyone know where his team is?"

_"Mr. McCloud?" _Shayne squeezed through the crowd, apologizing to those he so rudely bumped out of the way. Just as they had said, it was Fox on the ground, motionless. "Here, I'll take him with me."

"Whoa, whoa, hold it right there." The official held a hand up to stop him. "I said his team, and I don't remember anything about a Star Fox member with black fur."

"While that may be true, Fox does, in fact, know me."

"Sure, and so does everyone else in Lylat. I've heard that a million times, buddy. Unless you have proof of any positive affiliation with Mr. McCloud, I can't let you take him."

As the argument went on, Fox's body began to shift. As it did, he slowly awoke and opened his eyelids to see a pair of boots near his face. He wondered what had happened, and why he was lying on the floor with two people debating over whether or not he should be put in the care of one of the two. To the best of his ability, he brought his eyes up to find out who was standing in front of him. It was Shayne, sporting, yet again, the mysterious black outfit he wore the night before.

"Shayne…?" Fox asked weakly, bringing everyone's attention back to him.

Shayne looked down, and upon seeing Fox awake, turned back to the official and said, "See? He knows me."

"Is this true?" the official asked Fox.

Fox thought for a second, almost blurting out a 'no'. But his mind thought otherwise, and flashed back to his dream that had occurred. It almost seemed too real to be a dream, what with actually feeling everything that happened, especially the odd sensation that the encounter with the little girl gave him. It made him almost scared of what could happen if something similar were to occur, or what kind of effect it would have on any of his teammates. Then he remembered what he saw before all that, and what he now perceived of it. At first, Shayne skulking around the hotel at night and almost taking off Fox's head was very suspicious, but now, it gave him a different outlook. Maybe Shayne could shed some light on this. It could've just been his mind talking as a result of a nightmare. Sort of like the times when you wake up and your terrified mind becomes filled with irrational thoughts of monsters under the bed or in the closet, or a killer waiting outside your door for when you get up for a glass of water or midnight snack. Whatever it was, it gave him a decision. The dream was too realistic to mean nothing, and Fox was given the impression that no one would dress as mysterious as Shayne without some logical reason behind it.

"Yes, I know him," he answered.

The official paused a moment, possibly thinking it over a second, before saying, "Very well."

Shayne knelt down and grabbed Fox's arm, brought it behind his head, and began heaving him out of the crowd. As he did, the hidden paparazzi jumped out to question him. As Fox recalled, they always did like to appear out of nowhere.

"Mr. McCloud, do you recall what happened?" shouted one.

"Did this occur from excessive drinking?" said another.

"Wait, what?!" Fox retorted.

"Listen, people," Shayne cut in, "Fox just needs to recuperate. None of this, please!"

As the crowd grew more relentless, as if Shayne's request went unheard, Shayne gripped onto Fox's arm dashed out of the hallway. He moved swift enough to make Fox's feet only graze the ground. He was able to outrun the crowd, all of them making an effort to keep up, even though there was no chance of catching the two. Before long, their shouted questions faded away along with both of the fox's view of them.

"Man," Shayne said, "I had no idea the crowds of fans were this bloodthirsty."

"Yeah," Fox replied, "and this is actually one of the smallest crowds I've seen."

"Damn. How can you handle this all the time?"

"Well, I built up my endurance and running speed, and learned to use my surroundings well. And I also know not to let them grab even one bit of you or your clothing. If they do, you're done for." Fox almost lost sight of why he even agreed to go with Shayne. But for the time being, he'd rather concern himself with whether or not he would be followed again.

After a few minutes of Shayne dragging Fox down the hallway over his shoulder, and passersby giving them a curious stare, he said, "Katt's room isn't too far ahead. We'll stop there for now."

"Katt's room?"

"Yeah. She…uh…wanted me to stay there for the night."

"…You mean _after_ that little excursion in the hallway."

"Yes, after that."

Soon, Fox was able to walk on his own to some degree, his strength coming back to him slowly. It wasn't normal for him to be made vulnerable and weak so easily, and he didn't exactly like the idea of being carried out of the hallway by someone else when persons of the media were present. Additionally, he didn't really say he needed assistance in the first place. Shayne had just heaved him over him shoulder from the start, which made Fox wonder. Did he just assume Fox was weak and couldn't walk, or did he know something about it? If he did know, how was he involved?

"Here we are," said Shayne when they reached Katt's room. "We should stay quiet, just in case Katt's still asleep. I only left a few minutes ago, so I doubt that she's awake."

The door slid open and, as Shayne had predicted, Katt was still curled up on the couch. She was clutching a pillow; obviously thinking it was Shayne.

"I'm sure Katt will let you stay here until you feel like you can walk fine," Shayne said, gesturing him to sit on the bed.

"You sure?" Fox asked skeptically. "It's not like Katt to just let people do things against her consent."

"Sounds like you know her really well."

"I do. She's aided Star Fox multiple times in the past."

"I'm sure she has. I knew there was something about her. Some sort of heroic vibe, willing to help another in their time of need."

"Enough of this. I need to know something."

"Anything," Shayne said calmly. This irked Fox a little, as did any other time when he was serious and wanted to get to the bottom of something, yet the others around him were low strung and relaxed like nothing was happening.

"I need to know what you were doing last night, right before you almost beheaded me."

"Fox, I told you: that's my business."

"Is it, now?" Fox confronted him. "What is it really?"

"I guess it's more like I don't want anyone involved. While it is my personal business, and I don't want anyone to know, it's also something I want to protect others from."

"Sounds like a load of crap to me," Fox said offensively. "You expect me to believe this is some kind of mission or something? 'Cause I don't think that scouring around for whatever the hell you might want would be that hazardous."

"Now _that_ sounds like a load of crap. Surely you've gone on missions where you had to find someone who's possibly lethal. If that's not at least a bit treacherous, I must have no concept of danger."

"Don't change the subject. I really doubt that whoever it is in this hotel that is so worth catching is that dangerous."

"Regardless," Shayne said, finally sounding serious enough to elaborate on Fox's level, "I'm not telling you."

Fox scowled at the stubbornness of the black fox. He learned nothing, and Shayne was still shrouded in anonymity. To say the least, Fox was about taxed of all his patience, and it was a wonder that he didn't just pounce on Shayne and claw his out, demanding he give him an answer.

"However," Shayne said, "I may tell you if you tell me why you were on the floor in the middle of the hallway unconscious."

"Why is that so important?" Fox asked stubbornly.

"I'm just curious. And if it gets you the answer you want out of me, what reason do you have not to comply?"

Fox stayed silent, not really sure what to say. Actually, he didn't have any clue why he ended up in such a mess, unwillingly left on the floor like that. He remembered returning to his room, the girl, and a bright light… Everything further was a blank. He could distinctly remember dreaming something, but he wasn't sure what to make of it. Sure, it was vivid, but that didn't quite allow him a clearer insight on what had happened.

"Though it doesn't pertain to the subject I'm trying to make," he finally complied by explaining, "I really don't know how it happened."

"Nothing, really? It was right after you went to your room."

"I'm telling you, I have no idea."

"C'mon, Fox!" Shayne said excitedly, getting up to stand in front of Fox. "This is simple. Just think, and tell me!"

"What is with you?! I can't-"

Shayne crouched down so he was level with Fox before he finished. He looked into Shayne's green eyes; something about them made an eerie aura emanate from the black vulpine. They seemed to glow, making them neon green. Staring into them, Fox felt like they were swallowing him up, sending him spiraling into some sort of trance. This was apparently the gist, as he was beginning to fall asleep. His eyelids too heavy to keep up, he let them shut, and fell into darkness.

Shayne smiled in knowing his trick worked. The hypnosis was a success, and soon, too, would be his search. He brought his hand up to Fox's shoulder and closed his eyes. He concentrated energy through his arm to Fox, making a connection to his vulpine guest.

As the energy levels grew, he opened his eyes. His vision allowed him not to look at the unconscious fox in front of him, but inside his memories. One way or another, he was going to get his answers.

* * *

_I know, it's kinda suckish...But it's better than nothing, right? I'll be working on the next one as much as I can. Hopefully my beta will be back by then. _

_Few things to announce:_

_1) I need more voters for the co-host poll. It's a five way tie, and I need a breaker!_

_2) Fox Fighter 220 needs more questions for his Q&A! He doesn't have much to work with!_

_3) My friend, bailey11095503, still needs your support with his fic! So far, I'm his only reviewer! Please help him, guys!_

_R&R!  
_


	10. This Hotel Isn't Normal, Pt 2

_Yay, Shadow's gettin' his ass in gear! ...Yeah...That did sound as suggestive as you thought...Anyway, I was really happy when I got this done, because I believe my writer's block is finally gone. Finite. Dead. Was taken over a table with no lube....uh...Awkward, I know...Anyway, onto recognitions._

**Thanks for reviewing: **VENOMDARK, Mirai M. Mieux, StarlightDragon1636, Telekinetic Mind Freak, GETOUTOFMYBRAIN, ShadowFox0324, starfighter-105, Believers Never Die (2x), and Metal Guitarist 101 (Worship his Strong Bad avatar!).

_Georgasaurus ended up flaming this through the dare I put up in the forum and somewhere else. It was fake, however, and he only did it 'cause I dared any flamer to do so. Ya know, I was burned up about the deal with the copy/paste move of TBTIOTS from KrzyKrn K's fic Crisis._

_TazHall brought up something that messed with me a little. I edited out the shower deal with Fox in the first chapter. If he's reading this message, or someone who knows him is, let it be known that I took that out, for it was indeed gratuitous. I know it won't get to him, but I thought I should bring it up._

_So, without further mildew- I mean adieu, **ENJOY!!!**_

_**

* * *

**_

Chapter 10

This Hotel Isn't Normal Pt. 2

The call of sleep beckoned Krystal for more rest than she had gotten, but her paranoia had grown far too much to be ignored. She left the lights on all night, TV on who knows what channel, (She heard something about recent celebrity deaths, something that didn't concern her at the moment.) curtains drawn and doors and windows locked. She had recalled her bizarre experience in her dream, and while it seemed harmless, it was way too vivid to be anything frivolous. She felt it meant something, and it related to her first feelings of the hotel; that is, the first time she stepped in.

While it was true that she never stayed there, let alone knew about it, she sensed something more sinister than expected within the walls of the hotel. At first, of course, the glow of meeting her all time favorite star surely washed that away as easily as grime on her hands. Spending a day on the beach with Fox pretty much abolished all the rest of her uneasiness from her system. It looked as though her stay there would've been enjoyable…

Had it not been for the dream. Her memory distorted to house this unknown wolf; she wondered why this Damien would show up in her thoughts. Not only that, but why would she envision a cult like group, keeping Fox as their capture? None of it made any sense. Whatever this hotel was doing to Krystal, she didn't care what it was exactly; she just wanted it to stop.

Even though it was morning, Krystal felt that a few more hours of sleep couldn't hurt. After all, she stayed awake for at least three hours because of her inability to sleep as a result of the horrible dream. She reached over to her lamp to flip the switch.

However, before she could, it started to flicker. The room went from dim to extremely bright in segments of only half a second. Krystal's instant supposition was that it needed to be changed. Heeding it none, she flipped the switch twice. Nothing changed, and the lamp continued to flicker, only more spastically. She gave it a peculiar look.

"_What kind of lamp is this?" _she thought. "_Well, no power, no light." _She grabbed hold of the power cord, plugged into the outlet in the wall. She tugged it, and it came out of the socket.

To her astonishment, the lamp continued to flicker, this time swaying a bit. She stared, wide eyed at it, and stood up. She stepped back, in fear of something happening. When she was a good ten backward steps away, the lamp flew right at her. She ducked in time for it to miss and smash into the wall behind her. The light went out, and the glass shards littered the ground, among the other parts. The room was now much dimmer.

Krystal's heart was pounding and her breathing accelerated to near hyperventilation. She couldn't stop from staring at the remains of the lamp, thinking that they could spring to life and fly back at her in an attempt to cut her, or group back together to make a full lamp again. Nothing would surprise her now that a previously thought inanimate object made an endeavor to strike her.

The TV screen suddenly switched over to static. Krystal saw this and moved as far away as she could from it, and grabbed the remote. She pressed the power button in a desperate attempt to shut it off, ultimately failing. The giant set remained on and continued to show static.

She then began hearing high-pitched feedback that seemed to have no origin and just resonated from all around the room. As it grew in volume, she covered her ears to block it out. The squeal like sound reached her hearing even then, and it grew intense enough to make Krystal's head start to ache.

As she continued to look at the screen through her half shut eyes, a slit of light appeared, running down the middle of the set. When the entire glass casing seemed seem to be separated, emitting a light similar to a stage lamp, the slit grew in width, taking on an oval shape at first. Krystal closed her eyes farther to shield them from the intense glow. It soon grew to the size of a king-sized bed standing on its end, and was in the shape of some oddly curved doorway.

Once it was evident that the growth and morphing of the anomaly had ceased, the light grew and grew, greatly surpassing most light sources. As its intensity grew, so did the ringing. As it did, Krystal almost thought she picked up the sound of windows breaking, faint as it was against the screech that this phenomenon was creating. Her eyes clamped tightly together, and her hands clamped against her head as if to crush it, she fell to the ground as if her strength was drained straight from her body. She could only lie there, on her side, while the event played out. She almost thought she going to go insane.

But she wasn't going to surrender quite then. She flipped over on her side that wasn't facing the light, and slowly opened her eyes. The brightness was still intense when hitting other objects, though it wasn't as nearly blinding as staring directly into the unknown entity; or doorway; or whatever the hell it was. And while it was mildly difficult to see, the outer gist of the objects and edges were shown. Krystal stood, to the best of her ability against the screeching, the bright light, and the energy drain, and walked to the doorknob, legs almost refusing to move at all.

The room began to shake with the power similar to a small tremor. Krystal was within a foot of reaching the door, and the card pad that would unlock it. Simultaneously, she reached in her pocket to pull out her card key. She brought the card up, closer and closer to the slot, closer to her escape.

She slid it in, prompting the familiar 'ping', saying the door was unlocked. Krystal was slightly surprised that she could even her it still. She utilized the dresser next to the door to pull herself off the floor, in order to have any hope of getting out of that room as fast as possible. Once up on her feet, not as stable as she had hoped, she awaited for the door to open at her upright presence. Nothing happened, and that drove Krystal to swipe her card again. Still nothing, which contradicted the green light that said that the door was usable at the moment.

The pad began to blink, and also emitted a small amount of feedback. As the light intensified, the blinking of the pad increased, until the device's circuits overloaded. The front panel burst away from the wall, releasing the smoke that had gathered up from the fried circuitry. The wires weren't damaged, and there was no indication of any tampering.

The light finally engulfed the whole room, illuminating everything to the put that everything was white. Krystal's eyelids were shut, but they weren't shielding her sight much at all. She thought she would go blind, even with her eyelids closed, from the light.

Then, within a second, the room dimmed, and the feedback ceased along with it. It was like someone had adjusted the dimmer switch and the volume control of some unseen device at the same time. She slowly brought her hands away from her ears, and eased her eyes open. They almost hurt, considering how hard she was forcing them shut.

She looked to the TV. Instead of the white light, there was a black mass in the same spot, in the same shape. There was static coming off of it, obviously from the static interference it was causing. As scared as Krystal was, this new phenomenon made her curious; and as foolish as she knew it was, she got up, and walked over to it.

First assumptions never meant anything to Krystal, especially now that this looked almost like a tunnel. Then again, her more valid reason was that she was dreaming. There was no real motive for caution in a dream. As she approached the 'doorway', she could hear voices. Mumbles and murmurs reached her ears, but none would make the least bit of sense. In fact, it was as though it were in a different language altogether. But it almost sounded familiar…

She stuck out a hand, reaching to the dark, curious about its reaction to contact with a living being. As idiotic as this was, she couldn't really pull her hand away. She was almost drawn to it, like a piece of metal to a large magnet. She noticed that the air was colder the closer she got to it. Not just the air, though, but the chill seemed to be present inside her body as well.

As her hand made contact, the slab was as hard and cold as a sidewalk in winter. A strange feeling was present, like that of another entity. It was like empty air: breathable, but just…empty. She pressed both hands up against the slab, putting her in a position that looked at so though she would push it over. Nothing more added to the rock's mysterious properties.

Just when all felt calm and still, the silence was broken. The ringing returned, threatening to deafen Krystal. She backed away, covering her ears once again. She kept her eyes open as best she could, trying to stay vigilant and ready for whatever was happening.

A hand began to push its way through the slab, slowly and easily. The fur was black, and the claws were sharp with a dirty yellow color. Down the arm, a robe began to appear, black as night but with purple markings. They looked suspiciously like tribal artwork. The bulk of the body was soon visible, showing a well-defined front. Krystal stepped back more, but lost her balance and fell on her back, her hands releasing from her ears. The room was quiet once again, but in front of her stood a familiar face.

The black furred wolf looked down at her and grinned, showing his nearly black fangs.

"Hello again, Krystal," he said in a low voice.

* * *

Upon arriving in Fox's mind, Shayne found himself by a river of moving images, which he quickly identified as Fox's form of memory. He'd ever seen one before, only those that took on different shapes like hourglasses and fields of flowers. Getting up from his sitting position, though he didn't remember sitting down, he walked over to it.

Shayne scoured heavily across the stream, not wanting to miss anything in his search. Though, Fox's subconscious river seemed to only hold random memories and dreams. Shayne had glimpsed a few of his known feats, like destroying Andross, and reveled slightly on how much this vulpine had been through.

A very peculiar memory floated by in the river of thought, grabbing Shayne's attention and causing him to grab for it. The memory appeared to be that of a giant tunnel of flames. Shayne wasn't anything for studying the life of celebrities, but that was too out of the ordinary for Shayne to just let it one float away.

Shayne grabbed it, but it slid through his fingers. The memories had a physical structure similar to water. Unlike water, however, there was no feeling to it. Feeling of air, body like water; this was not going to make the vulpine's mission any easier.

The river ran on for longer than Shayne chose to figure. It was rather strange running alongside the river, since it was the only thing in color. The entire plain of Fox's mind was black. This was due to him being unconscious.

As the river ran on, the memory got harder to keep track of. Shayne knew that if he didn't act fast, he'd lose it, and possibly his only chance to finding out what had happened to Fox. It all depended on him being able to get a hold of the memory before it washed away. He had done this before, and the only way to experience another person's memories when they were in a liquid state was to use it as a portal. Thus, he had to jump through the spot where memory was.

Running a bit faster than before, he easily got past his target by at least fifteen feet. Then, he stopped and turned, readying himself to jump. He had one shot at this, and losing it would have made this a huge waste of time. Not to mention, he'd lose even more time trying to find the memory again.

When it was within range, he leapt into the stream, matching where it was. He sank through the 'waters', disappearing into the memory.

* * *

As Katt turned over onto her other side, she accidentally fell off of the couch. Leaning up and rubbing her eyes, she saw that the mass she was cuddling was a pillow, and not Shayne. As her eyes were still adjusting to the light, she found her bearings and stood up slowly, putting the pillow back on the couch.

Catching something in her eye suddenly, it clenched shut, and she felt her way to the bathroom, brushing her hand against the nearby wall until she found the pad. It opened the door and she rushed to the sink, turned on the water and splashed it over her eyes. The cool water soothed the irritation, and she was able to slowly open the lids of her eyes.

The mirror beheld the image of some odd bed fur patterns. Always an annoyance, Katt figured a wash could do well, especially if she wanted to go the 'extra mile' with Shayne. She couldn't quite get it herself, but she had become emotionally attached to him beyond how fond of Falco she was when she first met the bird.

She grasped the towel from the rack behind her, and made sure the door was shut before advancing. She reached under her shirt and pulled off, tossing it aside and glancing back at the mirror.

_"Remember, sexy is key," _she thought, pulling off various modeling poses. Even as she began removing the rest of her clothing, she tried to make it as sensual as possible. Through doing this, she was getting a little turned on herself.

But her little 'fun' was cut short. A small crack formed on the mirror, stretching at least the length of her forearm. The crack was straight, and didn't bend off at any point. It was perfectly horizontal, and Katt was bewildered at how it could end up like that, perfectly straight with no faults in the line. She was, however, more concerned on how it got there to begin with. There was no chipping of glass and the mirror had not made contact with anything. There was no reason for it to become damaged as it just had. She ran her finger across it, feeling the cool glass across the tip. It was as if it wasn't there. Since it was a perfect crack, it left no traces of being disfigured in that small area.

Without warning, another crack appeared out of nowhere, making a loud sound of glass breaking and making Katt jump. This time, it was vertical, completely perpendicular to the first one. Again perfect, with no fractures showing other than the straight break itself. Katt remained still, watching it closely and vigilantly for anything else. Another crack, this time connecting the gap between the right tip and the highest tip, and once again perfect. If it were a compass, this would've been the northeast gap. Following that, it filled the gaps in a counter clockwise motion, until it was a square on its point with two perpendicular lines inside it. And to add to this already puzzling and disturbing sight, a circle closed in the outer area of the symbol. This time the erosion of the mirror was made while being accompanied by a scratching sound as if someone was slowly taking a claw to the glass, and hit the point of the diamond at each of its 4 points. Four smaller circles appeared as well, each one inside one of the four sections inside the diamond.

The symbol was eerie. Of course, anyone would be weirded out if a random marking appeared in cracks on their mirror in front of their eyes. But this sign looked as though it were ritualistic in some way. She felt around the circle, still not feeling the indentations of imperfect cracking or cutting.

He finger completed one whole rotation around the circle. She lowered her hand immediately after, staring just at the symbol. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she had seen it elsewhere…

Without warning, the linings of the mark began to light up dramatically. Katt jumped back to the wall, afraid of what might happen if she were too close. She reached for the switch to open the bathroom door, but upon pressing it, she found it wouldn't operate. On the mirror, the light grouped to illuminate the entire area of the circle. And just when she thought it couldn't get weirder, a form began to materialize through the glowing part of the mirror, and as it went through more, it was revealed to be a hand. Pure white fur and black, unruly claws; the sight would have been unnatural if the hand _weren't_ coming out of the mirror.

Katt couldn't find her voice to scream, and could only inch further into the corner in terror. She wished for a savior of some kind, even when she knew that the chances of anyone finding her were slim. And just when she needed Shayne the most.

* * *

Shayne opened his eyes and immediately peered upon Fox, lying unconscious on the bed.

_"Guess I can't blame him; it isn't easy haven't your mind probed."_ He chuckled ever so slightly, yet remaining sympathetic at his exhausted psyche. At least he found what he needed from his subconscious. And just as he feared, it was far grimmer than he had hoped. But why did it involve him and Krystal?

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by a high pitched ringing from behind him. Turning around, he found that the ringing seemed to be originating form within the bathroom. He rushed to the door and tried to open it, finding the pad to be malfunctioned. The whining got louder and louder and even started to irritate Shayne. He knocked twice, but received no answer. With no other option to find the reason to this strange happening, he brought his leg up and attempted to kick down the door. He only left a dent; he tried again. The door was soon riddled with foot sized dents as it bent more and more out of shape with each kick, eventually falling to the bathroom floor with a loud clank.

Katt was cowering in the corner, looking to Shayne with fear in her eyes. He didn't even have to ask what was wrong, because the hand sticking out of the mirror drew his attention instantly. On instinct, Shayne pulled one of his blasters out from the inside of his jacket and aimed it at the hand. He fired several bolts, making it cringe in pain and withdraw slowly. Once it was gone, the light from the mirror disappeared along with the markings. To Katt, it was like the entire horrifying scene in reverse.

"Katt, what's going on?" Shayne asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she said quietly.

* * *

"Who are you?!" Krystal questioned the wolf.

"You don't remember?" he replied. "I'm hurt…I'm the one who visited your dream the other night."

"D…Damien…"

"That's right. _Now_ you're getting it."

"What do you want with me?"

"What, you think I'm gonna spill my plans like some cliché villain in a comic book? Please, I'm smarter than that. I _will_ tell you the obvious, however. I'm here to take you with me."

"T-take me?"

"Yes, take you. You're quite the slow learner, ain'tcha?" Damien chuckled and slowly approached Krystal.

Krystal slowly rose and backed up away from Damien, arming herself with her blaster on the nearby dresser. "Look, I don't care who you are or what you're doing, but I'm not going anywhere!" She pointed the blaster right at the grinning Damien. He only laughed at her show of defense.

"You're truly amusing, you know that?"

"Shut up!" She fired a shot, only to have the bolt stop short, right in front of the Wolf's face, and disperse into many smaller blots and continue around him. They left marks in the wall in several spots and destroyed a lamp and a mirror.

"Tsk tsk…Seven years bad luck, Krystal," he said mockingly. As she fired another shot, Damien vanished from sight in a swift movement to the right, invoking a high pitched whistle like sound and an entire fade away of his figure. The bolt flew forward and struck the TV, sending glass fragments flying in all directions and for the inner wiring to billow out smoke. Without any further warning than the same whistling sound a second after Damien disappeared, Krystal was held up by the neck. Damien stood, holding her up with his right hand. His intent looked to be to choke her, but his grip was loose enough to keep her breathing, yet strong enough to keep her well within his grip. Krystal struggled to get out of the hold he had on her, but to no avail, even when she kicked him; he seemed to be immune to physical damage, along with the ability to evade projectile without even moving. "I'd love to stay here and have a fun brawl, but we have business to take care of, my dear. So…" His left hand began to emit a purple glow.

"Stop…please…" Krystal pleaded. Damien only smiled and brought his hand up to her face, covering her eyes.

_"Sleep…You'll only harm yourself by struggling…"_ His voice echoed in her head. Her whole body began to go limp, and soon she hung like a rag doll in his hand, swaying back and forth slowly.

"Good." Damien threw her over his shoulder, now holding onto her by her feet, and walked back through the slab. After he did, it shattered like glass, and the pieces faded away until it as if they were never there. The room also began to revert back to original state. Soon, the TV was once again showing the news and the lamp on the nightstand was sitting calmly, sending light throughout the room. It was as if nothing happened.

* * *

_Whelp...guess whose back? 'Tis Damien, and what a smartass, eh? He's badass, though. BTW, when he vanishes like that, imagine the move Wesker uses in RE5. Not sure what it's called...And so marks another chapter, which also marks what could be the end of my writer's block. Next up: The Q&A. Be prepared, faithful readers, and keep this chapter in your head...'Cause until I write a new one, this is all ya get. Be grateful, dammit!!_

_So now, have a nice day/night/time in your dark and secluded room/basement. And leave a review on the out out. Thanks!  
_


End file.
